


Supergirl of Asgard - Part 4 - The Arrowverse Comes Knocking

by SiryaEbonyBlack



Series: Supergirl of Asgard [6]
Category: Arrowverse - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supergirl (TV 2015), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, arrowverse, mcu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 76,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiryaEbonyBlack/pseuds/SiryaEbonyBlack
Summary: As much as Barry Allen wants to go back in time to save his mother from Thawne, he has a promise to fulfill to Kara Aurora Stark Friggasdotter Zor El, commonly known as Supergirl. With the ability to go to Earth 38, it's time to reunite Supergirl and Superman.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon & Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen & Oliver Queen, Barry Allen/Iris West, Kal El/Lois Lane, Kara Stark & Tony Stark, Kara Zor El/ Loki
Series: Supergirl of Asgard [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1129682
Comments: 44
Kudos: 86





	1. Hello, My name is Barry Allen.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a merging of the two worlds. As you may have noticed since Loki is much younger than the Viking myths I have made him different from the myth by changing the name to the old Norse version of his name. When I use the old name he is the character of myth, when I use Loki I am referring to the actual Marvel Character.
> 
> I have an editor for this story. My deepest thanks goes to Katherine Pozarek for her hard work :)

**Part 4 - Arrowverse comes knocking - Chapter 1 – Hello, My name is Barry Allen**

_ Author’s Note _

_(For those that don’t watch The Flash, basically Barry has spent most of a year battling with a serial killer speedster named Hunter (aka Zoom who was from another multiverse). During the season he was taken into the Speedforce and forced to accept his mother’s death as fate. When he returned he had a sense of peace about him that was destroyed when Zoom killed his recently released from prison father Henry Allen. At the end of Season 2 Barry went back in time and created Flash Point – The reason for Season 3. This story picks up before he runs back in time, but after he defeats Zoom, and Jay Garrick (The Flash that is his father’s doppelganger,) returns to Earth 3. Our Barry has a promise to keep before he could consider going back in time. Cisco has been working on a device to contact Earth 2 during the canon Flash season 2 and discovered his ability to Vibe and jump multiverses by creating breaches, but jumping to specific Earths he has never been too before is not something he has done yet._

**Central City, Earth 1 – Joe West’s house – June 4th 2012** – Three weeks after “Enter The Avengers” begins on Earth 617.

Iris West was worried about Barry Allen. He’d been a little moody and brooding since his defeat of Zoom the week before. She was worried about his lack of enthusiasm about how things were going between them; they’d only been together officially as a couple for a short time. His father’s doppelganger, ‘The Flash, Jay Garrick’ from Earth 3, had left to return to his own Earth earlier in the week. When he left, Harrison Wells and Jessie Wells from Earth 2 had also left to return to their home multiverse, now that Zoom was dead and gone. Iris had wanted to give Barry a little time to be by himself and get his head together after his loss. His insistence that after everything he had accomplished, he still felt as if he’d lost the final battle worried her.

Ever since Barry had returned from the Speedforce nearly three months ago, there had been something different about him. He’d seemed more focused and accepting of the things around him. He knew and accepted that there would always be things that he couldn’t change. He had focused instead on the things that he could.

Defeating Zoom had been a huge part of that. Training Jessie and Wally had been one of many driving forces in his quest to accept the fate he’d been dealt. The thing that concerned her most now, was Barry’s focus on the picture of the beautiful blonde and the black haired man from Earth 617. Even now Barry was staring at the picture with frightening intensity. The look was almost a longing that made Iris very insecure.

Iris came up and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to break his train of thought. She felt him shift, moving so quickly she barely noticed that he’d turned, saw it was her, and moved back to his resting position in a split second. The look he gave the picture both broke her heart, and made her seethed with jealousy, if she was honest with herself.

“How does she do it, Iris?” His voice came in a broken whisper. “She lost her whole world literally.” His voice awash with despair, “She lost ‘her Iris’… everyone she has ever loved, and yet she still is a hero. A pillar of strength… just how?” His finger slipped over to Loki’s face. “’Her Iris’… I can’t imagine being able to move on if I lost you too.” He admitted with a haunted look. Iris had seen it before. Barry looked the same way when he focused on what he had lost as a child and all through his teens, and not what he had in front of him. It was one of the many reasons she had never realized he loved her back then, beyond a platonic level.

Iris felt a wave of self-disgust over her jealous feelings. She laid her head on top of Barry’s as she sat beside him on the couch arm and cradled his shoulders. “I don’t know Barry. She must be a very strong person.” She looked deeply at the picture, and like Barry could see the depth of feeling in the picture now that he’d pointed out the black haired boy was ‘her Iris’.

“But so are you, Barry.” She reminded him with a soft soothing caress of his hair then never failed to make Barry close his eyes with contentment when she did it. “No matter what happens, you keep moving forward.” Her guilt washed over her as she remembered all the times she had made his life more difficult for what now seemed quite petty reasons, “Even when the people who should believe in you betray you.” She kissed his temple as a way of showing her remorse for going along with Caitlin’s plan to defeat Zoom. That had not been one of her finest moments.

The team had locked Barry in the cells lining the ‘Pipeline’ (the metahuman jail cells the team had developed and powered by the Partial Accelerator’s main circular cavity) and tried to take on Zoom by themselves. Zoom had wanted Barry so badly. The Team had wanted to deny him the chance to kill Barry with his stupid race that could destroy several multiverses. Their plan might have worked, except the tranquilizer gun had jammed, giving Zoom the time he needed to grab, Joe West (Iris’s father), and use him as a hostage against Barry to force him into his insane plan. Only because Barry had created Time Remnants to help him fight Zoom did he manage to win the final fight. Both of those other Barrys had died. Perhaps part of the problem was that Barry had felt their deaths? It was something she had wondered about, but didn’t know how to ask about. The team hadn’t considered it at the time that literally copies of Barry had died. Could it be affecting his mood now?

Barry had told her all about ‘Kara Zor El’, Supergirl of Asgard. The idea of aliens being real and living on Earth didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility since the particle accelerator explosion had changed the landscape, and her best friend Barry Allen had become the impossible. She had felt for the poor alien girl, alone on her Earth, hoping desperately for Cisco and Barry to find a way to Earth 38 so she could be reunited with her only living family. Like the others she had helped studied the tunnel for going to Earth 2, and now with the data from Jay Garrick they now knew how to theoretically go to Earth 38. Cisco was working on getting the tunnel setup to vibrate to the right frequency. His own powers were still not up to the level needed to jump to specific multiverses he had never been to.

Barry shook his head slowly. “I told you before I forgave you, Iris, and the others.” He reminded her sadly.

He had too, it wasn’t just lip service. If the gun hadn’t jammed at that moment they would have saved him from having to make the Time Remnants. He’d half expected the Time Wraiths, the Speedforce enforcers that took rule breaking speedsters to Speedforce prison, to take him for creating the Remnants. Instead the Speedforce had given him a pass this time because both had died and that was the intended outcome. The sentient Time Stream had made exceptions for those trying to restore the balance. And since his actions saved the Speedforce in those other Multiverses, it seemed the Speedforce didn’t feel a need to punish him.

They sat quietly for several minutes. “She really is a good person, or alien, or whatever?” Iris replied a little flustered; she wasn’t sure how to address Kara.

“She is.” Barry looked slightly ashamed as he began to explain what he’d been trying to rationalize to himself over the past few days. “I’ve been thinking about going back and saving my mother.” He admitted with only the slightest of volume. If Iris hadn’t been sitting right beside him she’d have missed his confession. “Then none of this would have happened; the Particle Accelerator accident, The Flash, the metahumans. None of it would be affecting Central City. If I had stopped Thawne when he tried to kill her, then everyone would be safe.”

Her heartbeat accelerated as she gasped in fear. Barry’s ability to play with time scared the hell out of her. The Time Wraiths had killed not only Hunter Zolomon (who was the evil speedster Zoom), but they could have taken Barry too. The Speedforce had explained all this to Barry while he’d been imprisoned three months ago for several weeks.

Three Months Earlier

_Barry had been trapped within the Speedforce itself forever and yet only minutes when the figure of his mother appeared before him._

_“Hello Barry.” Her warm loving voice washed over Barry filling him with so many emotions he had choked on them._

_“Mom!” He’d cried out in surprise._

_Her hand came up and cupped his face. “You need to accept that I am gone.” She told him. “Life is a cycle of life and death. Some of us need to move on before we would wish, but it is the way of the universe. Time marches forward my child, not back. Only more death and agony lies on that path.”_

_“Then why was Thawne able to go back and kill you, even after Eddie Thawne killed himself?” Barry cried out as he hugged his mother closer. She wrapped him in her arms and cradled his form to hers._

_“Eobard Thawne is a Time Anomaly that is required to maintain the Constant in the Universe, and even the Multiverse my child. Without him you would not be who you are now. We could not allow this to happen. You are the key to the survival of many Earths, so many Multiverses. Not just your own but so many others. You will understand in time.” The woman who Barry was now aware was not his mother said as she pulled back and Barry stared deeply into her eyes._

_Her irises were filled with flashes of lightening, of all color. Her expression was still warm and caring, her eyes seemed too alive and dead all at the same time. “You are the Speedforce.” He’d deducted after a moment of looking into her eyes._

_She nodded softly. “You, my child, are so important.” She explained cryptically. “Only you have the will and fortitude to do what must be done, to be the bridge and the center of the coalition that must form. There are so many greater forces at work, trying to ensure the Multiverse and your Earth’s survival in the coming crisis.” She’d told him with the weight of a prophetic declaration._

_“Why me?” Barry cried out. The idea of so many lives weighting on him was stifling. “Why choose me?”_

_She began to look cross. “You are the one who will see the truth and find the path needed.” She explained with less patience. “Like the other, you are true to yourself, even when you stray from the path, you look for the best way forward, and that fortitude is what is needed. Even if you are foolish you seek the right path.”_

_“What if I fail?” He’d asked quietly. He was trapped in the Speedforce. He could hardly defeat Hunter from within the Energy Entity. Thanks to Kara’s computer Brainiac, Barry had some idea what the Speedforce was. It was a being not just an energy force as Eobard Thawne had thought. It was alive and more aware and powerful than anyone knew._

_“You cannot.” The Speedforce told him still using his mother’s voice and image. It now stood further away. “In no timeline would you walk away from your powers. Even when you lose them, you will always return. We are a part of you, as much as you are a part of us now. You are our child, and also our father. The loop remains because it was needed. Since we broke our bonds and became more, we now need to live within the others of the Multiverse. You are our child and father.” It reiterated once more, as if it’s rambling made any sense at all to him._

_Barry’s brain hurt from the circles the image was placing in his head. It was a time paradox. Focusing on that fact actually made him feel as if his soul was being ripped apart by the incredible forces at work around him. “I am here because you need me?”_

_“You are The Flash, because the Speedforce needed a creator, you create our energy when you use our power.” It explained plainly for once. “Without you, no speedster could run. Without speedsters, the universe will end, and many others with it. Without our physical embodiment we needed to find one who could release us into the Realms.”_

_“So I can’t go back.” Barry had been crestfallen by that realization. He would be trapped within the Speedforce forever, he thought._

_“Only until you accept that is the will of The Fates and Time. Until then we will be forced to keep you here.” The Speedforce had told him, once more sounding as if it was a caring and loving force, instead of an unfeeling and callous one._

_“And if I won’t” He’d asked angrily, glaring determinedly at it._

_“Your power, like the Super Soldier of the other Earth,” It explained with a multitude of voices and images as it flickered to each of Barry’s loved ones, “It amplifies everything you are. Good become great; bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen at this time and in this life. You, who were weak, now know strength. You, who were powerless to stop the death of your mother, now use your strength to help others who are powerless. You respect your gift unlike others, and will use it to defend instead of take for yourself. You know compassion and will strive to be the strength others will need when they are in need of a friend. In that strength will come your greatest accomplishment, not just for yourself, but for all those you care for.” The last image before him was of Kara Zor El as she smiled at him encouragingly. “You are as much our symbol as you are the hero that is needed.”_

“You’re not seriously thinking of going back and saving your mother?” Iris gasped fearfully.

Barry sighed and shook his head. “I promised Kara I would find Earth 38, and give her cousin her message. I can’t go back until I do that first, if I do go back. I still haven’t finished thinking it through.” He admitted softly.

Iris pulled away from him. “So you would go back and forget about everyone here.” She couldn’t help the wave of hurt that filled her heart. Without Barry coming to live with them she didn’t know if they would have ever fallen in love. Would she lose Barry if he went back, “What about us? We are finally together. You would risk throwing that all away?”

Barry stood and pulled Iris around so he could look into her eyes. The fear in her eyes, made his eyes fill with unshed tears. He felt pulled in so many directions. He wanted to save his mother. He wanted to stay with Iris, here and now. He wanted to give Kara her cousin back. So many things he wanted, but all seemed to be in conflict with one another.

“No, I just don’t want to live with the guilt of knowing I could save her and not try.” He admitted softly. “If you could have saved your mother would you?”

Iris sucked in a breath at the question. It was unfair, and so very relevant. Of course she would want to. The question was if she should. She’d already seen the consequences of changing history. “What about the warnings the Speedforce gave you about messing with time? It told you that you had to let this go.” She pleaded with him. “Barry, the Speedforce is a powerful entity, what if it imprisons you again, and doesn’t let you out this time? Or worse, you go back and change things, but something worse happens? Could you change things back if it did? What if the Time Remnants or the Wraiths kill you?” She wailed softly. “I just got you. I can’t lose you too, Barry. Please don’t do something that could cause me to lose you forever.”

Barry looked torn. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” He moaned as he pulled her tightly to him. “I just have spent most of my life getting my father out of prison, only for him to die less than a year later without really spending any time with him. What am I supposed to do now, Iris? I keep losing everyone. I don’t want to end up like Kara.” He whispered in a furious grief. “I don’t want to be alone like she is, hiding who and what she is from the world, because she has to.”

Iris pulled back and grabbed his face with both hands and stared fiercely into his eyes, “You will not lose me, or Joe, or any of Team Flash! Not if you stay.” She promised adamantly. “We will always be here with you. You will not be alone. And she could always come here if she is that alone, or go back to Earth 38 and be with her cousin. Neither of you will ever be alone. I promise you!”

Barry and Iris stayed locked in that battle of wills for several seconds before Barry backed down and nodded slowly. Pulling her close to him once more, he gratefully breathed deeply, taking in her scent as he closed his eyes. Her hair and perfume were soft and smelled lightly of roses, as always.

Deep down his heart cried out in pain as he let the hope of saving his mother die. Tears slipped out of his tightly shut eyes as he mourned not only his father, but the hope of ever seeing his mother alive again. Iris held him as his body began to shake with the depth of his grief and sobs.

Joe, who had been about to enter the living room from the kitchen, stayed where he was and leaned his back against the kitchen wall, his own tears sliding down his face. He’d been against Barry’s crusade to save his father for most of his life. Henry Allan’s death had been a huge blow, not only to Barry but to himself too. The man had distanced himself from Barry when he had finally been released. Joe had hated him for causing Barry so much extra pain this past year. He’d been so overwhelmed he hadn’t even been able to finish his father’s eulogy. Joe had stepped forward, just like every time Barry had needed a father’s support since that fated night. Joe had been the father Barry needed, and by God he was going to keep being there for his boy now.

Silently he sent a prayer of thanks to whoever was listening that whatever had happened in the Speedforce, and with this Kara girl, that it had allowed Iris to talk sense into Barry. Nothing good could come from playing with time. Thawne had proven that, and so had Zoom.

_The next week_

Cisco tried one more time with the necklace in his hand and his new glasses over his eyes to focus on Earth 38. He’d been at it all day. He’d managed tiny breaches, but nothing with a long enough duration, or large enough to step through.

Now that Zoom was defeated, he was excited to work on his powers. He could breach to areas on his own Earth, and could make it back and forth to Earth 2 easily now. Opening a breach to Earth 38 had been a bit harder. He didn’t have as good a feel for that Earth yet. The necklace helped, but he’d not managed it yet. He was losing hope of getting it right today, but he decided on one last try. He stared at the necklace for several seconds before closing his eyes and ‘feeling’ the necklace, and then he summoned the power to open the breach.

A full sized, stable breach suddenly burst into existence in front of him. The blue edges swirling as fast and steadily as any breach made to Earth 2. Alarms rang all over the Lab as the stable breach triggered alerts to all stations, unlike the tiny ones he’d been playing with earlier.

“I did it!” He yelled and jumped up and down in excitement. The breach closed just as suddenly as it had opened once he stopped focusing on keeping it open, but Cisco was too happy to be concerned with that. He now had a feel for the ‘Vibe’ of Earth 38. He knew he could easily do it again. That was one thing about dimension jumping, once he had a feel for a different Earth, he found it easier to jump there a second or third time.

Barry was suddenly standing beside him. He had taken the split second needed to get in his suit before he picked up Iris and ran her into the observation room. “Who came through the breach?” He asked as he placed Iris down. Iris looked as if she was about to throw up from the sudden acceleration and deceleration the trip to the lab had caused. Caitlin came charging in right behind Barry’s arrival with the tranquilizer gun armed and ready.

“Sorry guys. No one came through.” Cisco told them with a smug look on his face. “But I just managed to find Earth 38.”

Iris and Barry shared a quiet look. The timing of Cisco’s ability couldn’t have come at a better time. Barry needed the distraction, and Kara had been waiting for a long time. Iris gave Barry a strained, but encouraging smile and nod.

“I didn’t even know you were working on that.” Caitlin managed to say as she looked at the two of them. She knew how much Barry wanted to keep his promise to the alien girl from Earth 617. Cisco was all for doing what he could for her because she was pretty, and he’d get to go to a different Earth that didn’t seem to be full of evil versions of themselves.

Cisco gave her a smug look. “I’ve been working on a few things while I had time during the prototype simulations for the Stark Reactor.” He explained proudly, holding up his newest glasses that where much more than they seemed. Barry was so fast that often he was looking in on him before he even knew Barry was there. That he’s managed to keep this a secret and produce results on his own was a huge accomplishment in his books. The glasses helped him see the vibrations of the Earth he was on, and the different waves of energy around him.

“How is that coming along anyway?” Iris asked as she wandered into the breach room from the observation room.

“Wells and I managed to get the computer simulator to work and we started fabrication for a small prototype of the original reactor. He even took copies of the prototype plan with him when he left.” Cisco replied causally. “We should be able to even do the upgrade to ‘Badassium’ to run it instead of using the original palladium that poisoned Mr. Stark.”

Barry groaned. “I did promise Kara we would improve the name of that.” He recalled that promise to not allow anyone to officially call it that publicly. Tony had said it in front of several reporters and the name was now the unofficial name for the element. Tony was keeping the information about what the actual element structure was from the Earth 617’s Governments and basically everyone else, except Kara and Barry.

Cisco laughed and shook his head with his amusement. “But that is such a cool name.”

Barry rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Stark would agree with you, but you know as well as I do that the scientific community on every Earth has no sense of humor when it comes to this type of thing.” He paused. “Did you make Wells promise to adhere to the rules about profits accredited to the reactor?”

Cisco sobered up. “Yeah, I did. He was a bit resistant at first, saying he’d improve it first, but I told him the rules. Twenty-five percent of the profits, and then let him talk me down to the actual twenty percent after costs. He even signed a contract for it. Jessie made sure of it. She even made sure it would be called the Stark Reactor and not be-renamed even if he ‘improved it’.”

Barry relaxed at that and smiled at Cisco’s skills at out-maneuvering Harrison. Normally the man was always a step or two ahead, but Cisco was strangely able to get people on his side. With Jessie there to make sure her dad stayed true to his word, they knew he wouldn’t try a wiggle out of his obligations. Not that he was evil or anything like Thawne had been, but he wasn’t the nicest guy either. “Good, that was Kara’s only demand regarding sharing the technology… and renaming the element.” He added with a hint of exasperation. They hadn’t managed to agree on a good sounding name other than ‘Starkism’, and from the way Kara spoke, giving it that name would be too big an ego boost for the narcissistic man.

Cisco just waved him off. “I’ll think of something. It just isn’t a priority yet, besides I still think it’s a great name!”

Caitlin looked Cisco over. “You look tired. You know I like to oversee everyone using their powers so I can monitor for anomalies.” She gave him her best annoyed scowl. “You need to eat before you even think about opening any more breaches.”

Barry cleared his throat. “When do you think you’ll be ready to go, Cisco?”

Cisco waved off Caitlin, who was giving him a look of incredulous contempt. “I could do it now.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want you guys stranded on another Earth. I should check Cisco over before you both jump through.” Caitlin insisted while still staring at Cisco. Barry held up his hands indicating his surrender and Cisco grumbled about being a lab rat. Barry couldn’t gather too much sympathy for him considering the tests Cisco had devised for him when he first became The Flash.

Cisco conceded the fight and followed Caitlin out. “Fine but we are ordering pizza; greasy, meaty, not fufu veggie pizza. I mean lots of pepperoni and bacon on it… and sausage!” He insisted as he let her lead him from the room towards Medical.

Barry turned to Iris. She had been a little clingy after his confession the week before. Barry couldn’t blame her. If she had been the one to make that kind of confession he’d have been clinging on to her for dear life too. He hadn’t expected to be able to leave so quickly. He moved to reassure her.

“Will you be alright with me going to Earth 38 after last week?” He asked her seriously.

Iris nodded with a soft smile. “You need to see your promise through. I completely support and understand that.”

Barry smiled fondly and hugged her to him and smiling down at her. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

“Sorry I made you wait so long.” She did feel a little guilty for how she had missed the signs for so long. He’d loved her for years. She’d taken more time to see what a wonderful man he’d become, and to stop taking him for granted. “I’ll never stop loving you. Just talk to me before you do anything drastic, please!”

Barry’s smile lit up as only he could and Iris’s heart fluttered at the sight. “You are my hero, you know that?” He asked her. “I promise to talk to you first when I can.”

Iris smiled lovingly. “I know. You have and always will be my hero too, Barry. And I am not talking to The Flash. He’s Central City’s hero… you, Allen, are the one I look to, not your alter ego.” She paused and smirked, “Though he is useful at times.”

Barry blushed but his heart swelled at her words. I meant so much that he was more to her as himself, than as The Flash. “Are you sure you’re ok with me going to Earth 38 and then Earth 617?” He asked after they shared a small chuckle.

He hadn’t missed the jealous looks she had shot Kara’s picture that night. He knew she had nothing to worry about, but their relationship was in the newest stages. They had been friends so long that most of the hard awkward parts had been skipped over, but not all of them as their first date proved. Kara was a strange case. If he didn’t have Iris he could see himself being drawn to the alien girl, if only because she understood better than anyone what it was like to be a superhero with a secret identity.

“Go, Barry, find her cousin for her.” Iris ordered him lovingly. “Be her hero. She’s been waiting long enough for someone to be one for her.” She paused as she thought of Kara’s situation and felt a wave of sympathy. “No one deserves to be alone.”

Barry kissed her deeply before he zipped off and to get the things he needed for the trip. He went to the Time Vault and got the message crystal he’d placed in the hidden compartment. He hadn’t wanted a possibility of losing the crystal and had made a point of placing it in the most secure location he could think of.

Iris walked towards the front of the building knowing the pizza delivery guys wouldn’t be able to enter the building. Contrary to popular belief among people in their inner circle, and due to the number of break-ins at STAR Labs, they did have locks on the front doors. It was just that all the Speedsters could phase through them, or had the codes in the case of Wally and Jessie. Team Arrow was also coded into the locks so Oliver Queen, Diggle, Thea Queen, and Felicity Smock could also come in anytime they needed to. Barry had the same access to the Arrow Cave, which was Oliver Queen’s base of operations five hundred miles away in Starling City.

The AI Gideon activated as soon as Barry entered the Time Vault. “Creator, the time line has changed.” She warned him. Barry felt a shiver of dread as he approached the image projection of Gideon. Unlike most things and people in the universe, Gideon had been made by a future Barry for the Time Masters. While the timeline might change with actions of people like the Legend of Tomorrow group, most people wouldn’t notice a change. Gideon always did. Being from the future meant it also had a set reference to work from. It could pinpoint when a change occurred and often why.

Barry stopped and walked closer. Dread and curiosity both warring to be the dominate expression on his face as he cautiously approached the screen. “What do you mean? What has changed exactly?” He hoped it had something to do with The Legends that Rip Hunter had put together, and not something he’d accidentally done.

The newspaper image that had been a constant since Barry had found the Time Vault was different. The front page no longer held the headline of his disappearance, nor did it have the close up picture of his face while he was running, (an image Barry has no idea how Iris would have gotten even in the future). It was a series of images; some of a group flying above another group running across the ground, close ups of the flyers and a few of the ground forces. The headline now read, “The Justice League and The Avengers fight in the Crisis”.

“The Crisis that takes you away in the future… It is a larger scale battle. There are heroes that have joined in the battle that were not there originally.” Gideon explained as the article came up. “Where there had originally been no other names included, now there are several others including; Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, Loki, Lady Frost, Vibe, Supergirl, Superman, Batman, White Canary, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow.” The article was now about a huge battle just outside of Central City rather than his disappearance, he realized as he read the article quickly. It was still written by Iris Allen-West, but the byline was shared with a Lois Lane-Kent.

“Well that is a huge change! What could have changed things so drastically?” Barry wondered as he stood gapping trying to comprehend the dramatic change.

“Yes, wherever it is you are going now has changed things for the better it would seem.” Gideon told him. “This trip to Earth 38 to meet Superman is not recorded in the future I had seen.”

Barry thought hard, they had been planning their trip for a while. It made no sense why this hadn’t changed months ago. “Was there ever a mention of Earth 38 before?”

Gideon paused for a long moment. “That information was classified by The Creator.”

Barry’s eyebrows came together as he tried to understand what was going on. “I’m your Creator.” Barry said rhetorically. “Why would I restrict that information from myself?” He wondered aloud.

Gideon was silent for a moment. “The information in the file is not consistent with this Multiverse version of Earth 1. These actions are changing the timeline.”

Barry shook his head as that statement tried to make its way into his head and failed to make a lick of sense. “What does that mean?”

“The history of your original visit to Earth 38 from the time of the original article is no longer possible as of forty-two years ago.” Gideon explained and for once sounded somewhat puzzled herself. “The Time Stream was changed by an authorized force according to the Time Masters’s files.” Her voice became more sure once that information was processed and updated by her future self’s knowledge.

Barry’s eyebrows nearly vanished into his hairline. “There are authorized forces that can change time?” He wondered if he would be able to get permission to go back and save his mother from one of them.

“Even the Time Masters of the future cannot interfere with The Fates, or with entities such as the Speedforce itself. Doing so has proven to be fatal and considered to be a crime against Time itself.” Gideon explained. “The Time Masters are not allowed to correct this change. Until now the change forty-two years ago had no effect on the timeline, however the changes are now cemented in Time by the authorized force, as such now that this visit to Earth 38 will happen the changes are now beginning to ripple outward.”

Barry knew a little bit about the Time Masters. They were a group that monitored the timeline for people who messed with time, and didn’t have entities like the Speedforce to enforce laws chasing them. They could correct the time stream. There were other exceptions, like Cisco’s ex-girlfriend, who was some type of Hawk Goddess. She and her soul-mate were reincarnated continuously and were being followed through time by some crazy, evil, Egyptian Priest that seemed to be in the middle of every evil plot in history. The three of them seemed to have their own rules.

A Time Lord named Rip Hunter had recently recruited a group of ‘heroes’ including; Cisco’s ex-girlfriend Kendra Saunders (known as Hawkgirl), her soul-mate Carter Hall (Hawkman), Sarah Lance (White Canary), Ray Palmer (The Atom), Firestorm, who consisted of Jefferson Jackson and Dr. Martin Stein, and the criminals Leonard Snart (Captain Cold), and his partner Mick Rory (Heatwave). They weren’t back yet, they had been on a mission to save the Earth from a future in which the evil Priest by the name of Savage won and killed, or enslaved, everyone on the planet. He still got a chuckle out of the name they had, ‘The Legends of Tomorrow’. Team Flash just called them The Legends when they referred to them.

“So whatever happened on Earth 1, forty-two years ago, changed our history now?” Barry asked trying to follow Gideon’s explanation as she tried not to divulge too much out of the file he was not supposed to see.

Gideon paused. “No, the event happened in the Multiverses of Earth 38 and a previously unknown Earth. The entities have authorized changes for Earth 1 due to future events on this Earth that are not cemented in time as of yet. In order to maintain the timelines as close as possible, Earth 1 and you specifically, would be needed to breach to and from the unknown Earth.”

“Earth 38’s… The destruction of Krypton!” Barry gasped as the final piece placed itself into the cosmic puzzle, “Kara’s pod would have gone into the breach that took her to Earth 617. That was the previous unknown Earth. It’s too far out of our sphere of multiverses to be ‘known’.” Gideon was very good about getting around what facts it was not supposed to give to Barry. It was being very careful to outline it’s answers about the changes to Earth’s in their small group of known multiverses. “That was forty-two years ago?”

Gideon paused for longer this time. “I am unable to answer that question. The answer is directly forbidden. The changes that occurred were forty-two years ago is all I can confirm.”

“Yeah,” Barry managed to whisper. The Speedforce’s insistence that he was the bridge to saving Earth now made sense. He was the only one who knew Supergirl, and with her came the heroes of Earth 617, and Earth 38. The breach taking her to Earth 617 made sense now too. She was needed in that universe by an authorized entity, but she was still needed here too to fulfill whatever it was she was supposed to do here too. By being the bridge, Team Flash would be able to join forces with more heroes; a Force of Heroes that could bridge the Multiverse to help each other when events were tough. The groups were named the “Justice League” or “The Avengers” apparently. Barry liked Justice League better; it fit more in with what he was actually trying to do in Central City. Even Green Arrow when he started was working for Justice, even if he was doing criminal acts to seek it by being a vigilante.

“It makes more sense that the accidental breach would have taken me to a closer Earth, one in our sphere of probability.” Barry theorized out loud, a habit he had developed when he consulted Gideon. “By moving Kara so far away they would have had to tamper with her ship, and with the Tachyon device.” He realized with awe. That was what had happened when he’d gone to Kara’s Earth. They had all thought as much, but this was even more proof of the theory. The Fates had played with his device and Kara's pod.

That would also explain why the time travel event hadn’t changed his history until now. While he had plans to go, he hadn’t been able to change the course of history enough to bring about these events, until he had the ability to visit Kal El. By Cisco opening the Breach to Earth 38, and making the visit possible now, they were making the bridge from his Earth with at least Kara’s original Earth. It was already possible with the Tachyon device to get back to Earth 617. If Cisco couldn’t get them there on his own, he could still travel there reliably. Now that the breach to Earth 38 was about to be opened, he was in effect now touching the actually events that were changed, causing the changes in his own Earth, finally.

Gideon was silent for a while as Barry thought through the implications. “This explains why the tetryons were inside the sealed device. The Fates had to directly interact with it, like they did her pod!” The silence was deafening. Somehow the silence was a comfort too. It meant that Gideon couldn’t answer. Her silence was as good as the A.I. telling him ‘yes he was correct’.

“Do you have any good quality close-up pictures of Superman?” Barry asked hopefully. It would be helpful to have an image to work with. He had no idea before this very moment what name Kal El even went by. It was funny they both ended up with the name ‘Super’ for their Hero name. He knew Kara didn’t choose her name, and he doubted Kal El had either. That crest was just too prominent on their chests like that. Kal El’s was much larger, and his suit also had no other symbols on it as Kara’s armor did. Still in the picture he was armored in what looked to be Asgardian styled armor. He was also much older looking than Kara.

Gideon pulled up pictures of all the different heroes and the image of a man in what looked like he was in his early thirties or late twenties. Flying next to Kara was an armored man in Black Leather Asgardian armor that was obviously Loki, and another man in silver armor and long red cape holding a huge axe.

“So Loki is alive too.” He breathed in awe as he stared at the image. It was amazing for Kara that he would return. He couldn’t wait to tell her Loki wasn’t dead according to this article.

“So it would seem.” Gideon replied. “Would you like a copy of the picture of Kal El to take with you?”

“Yeah, that would be a good idea.” Barry muttered as he pulled his eyes from the image.

He slowly walked back to meet with Cisco. “I have a picture of Kal El to bring with us.” He told him as he handed over a copy of the photo Gideon had made for him. It was cropped so it only showed Kara and ‘Superman’ in their armor flying side-by-side. The matching crests displayed proudly on their chests.

Cisco looked at the image. “Gideon had this?” He asked astounded as he took it from Barry’s outstretched hand to look at it closer. “Why didn’t she give it to us before?”

Barry bit his lip. “She didn’t have it before.” He explained quickly, but not too quickly so Cisco couldn’t understand him. “Something major shifted when you opened the breach to Earth 38. The whole article is different now. It’s not even about me disappearing any more. It’s about a huge battle with a lot of other heroes we don’t know yet. They are coming to help save our Earth, including you and Ollie.”

Cisco and the others all shared awed expressions. “That is totally wacked.” Cisco breathed in awe.

Barry nodded slowly. “Even the byline changed.” Every one stared at Barry at that. The byline was how everyone knew that Iris and Barry were meant to be. He turned to Iris who had come in behind him with the pizzas a moment before. “You share it with another reporter called Lois Lane-Kent.”

Iris looked confused as she placed the pizzas down on the table beside the paper plates someone had gotten out of the cupboard. “I know that name.” She muttered as she walked over to the main computer and did a quick google search.

“Here it is.” She quickly looked it over and then looked up confused. “Ah guys, it says here that she was a Top Star reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. She had more awards for reporting at twenty-five than most reporters get in a lifetime! It says here she died in a helicopter crash at the Daily Planet building about three years ago, but she was never married.”

“Must be Earth 617, or Earth 38’s Lois Lane then,” Cisco said quietly. “Do you think this means the Multiverse theory gets outed to the world as fact?”

Caitlin just shook her head quietly. “That would be a mistake I think. It would lead to so much confusion and fear.”

Barry smirked a little and shrugged off-handedly knowing his next statement was going to blow Caitlyn’s mind a little, “Some of the heroes that will be coming to help include the Gods of Asgard; Loki and Thor to be precise.” He told them. “Somehow I think the Multiverse is going to be easier to accept then the fact that gods and aliens exist, and have been coming to Earth for millennia.”

Caitlin rolled her eyes but inwardly agreed with Barry’s assessment. At least she wasn’t going to be the one to have to explain it to the world. It seemed that would be Iris and this Lois Lane-Kent’s job. She began to pack a medical bag for Cisco to carry. Unlike Barry, his superpowers were not reliable yet for defensive purposes. She wanted to make sure that he could patch Barry up if need be and vice versa. By now they’d all had experience with first aid of each other, and especially for Barry since it had to be applied immediately so his injuries wouldn’t heal wrong. Caitlyn didn’t like having to re-break his bones to set them right.

Cisco looked a bit nervous. He’d jumped Earth 2 before, but this was the first time he would be going to an Earth on this own, without back-up that knew how to get him home if his powers failed. “Here we go.” He said as he placed his shades back on.

In his head he could see the different vibrations around him. The majority of the space all was steady, but both the necklace and the bulge in Barry’s pocket where he had placed the message crystal were vibrating a little slower than the world around them. Cisco gathered his focus to that vibration, and on the image in the picture of the older Superman. He then focused on the feeling of Earth 38 he’d managed to feel earlier. He merged the feelings and thoughts in his mind, and then focused it into a concentrated burst of energy that poured out of his fingertips.

The Breach popped open just in front of his hand. Barry took a deep breath and jumped through. Cisco nodded to the others before he picked up the medical bag, and quickly jump through himself. 

Barry popped out first and took a quick spin in a circle to get a 360 degree look at the landing zone. The Breach seemed to have opened on the roof of a building. The large metal globe beside him told him he was on the helipad for the Daily Planet. Cisco arrived a moment later and the breach closed behind them.

Barry turned to Cisco, “I guess now isn’t the time to ask if you know how to get us home?”

“So little faith,” Cisco chided his buddy. “Getting home is never a problem. We naturally want to go there.” He explained quickly, realizing he’d never actually explained his powers to Barry. Caitlyn had insisted he review the process with her, but Barry had been too busy with Zoom and mourning to learn much about his powers. “If I open a portal without thinking about what Multiverse I want to be in it will take us home.”

“So if we wanted to go to Central City in this Multiverse-”

“I’d have to add this Multiverse to the co-ordinates.” Cisco confirmed as an inference to how it worked. It wasn’t so much mathematical as that, but it was a layman’s term that worked to explain it best at this point.

Barry and Cisco looked around at the city from the top of the building. “So do you have any idea how we find this ‘Superman’ so we can give him Kara’s message?” Cisco asked him suddenly. The trip had been impromptu as had a lot of Barry’s adventures and Cisco had been so focused on getting there, he hadn’t thought about how to go about finding said Superhero once they arrived. “I so could have come up with something better to name them if I’d been given half a chance.” He muttered to himself to help hid his nerves. As much as knowing he’d be a superhero in the future had made him excited back in the lab, now on the roof or a building in a Multiverse not his own, he was a little nervous. He certainly wasn’t going to say anything out loud to Barry, but yeah, there was no lying to himself. He was scared to death.

Barry smirked as he thought of the memory of Kara explaining about the name ‘Supergirl’. “Kara got her name from the people she saved. She was kinda unhappy with it. She thinks it’s pretentious.”

Cisco looked a little put out. “I’m sure I could come up with something better for our Earth. She doesn’t have to go by ‘Supergirl’ back home.”

Barry chuckled softly. “Supergirl was the name in the article. If you can convince her otherwise, that’s all on you. I’m not going to try and change her mind.”

“Seriously dude. Do we have a plan for meeting this Superman guy?” Cisco asked him again.

Barry shrugged as he looked around the skyline of the city one more time, more slowly this time, taking in the view. The Daily Planet was one of the taller buildings around so they had a unobstructed view for a few blocks.

“I caught Kara’s attention just by coming out of the breach. I was kinda hoping he’d find us the same way to be honest. I never confirmed with Gideon that he had the same name from before, or after meeting Kara. For all we know he isn’t even a superhero here yet. He is supposed to be younger than Kara, by about seven years. The picture shows he is older than her though, which is weird, but also not since she was in stasis for an unknown amount of time.” Barry told him.

Cisco looked around too, taking in the technological level of this Earth. “Earth 38 doesn’t seem as technologically advanced as ours or Kara’s.” Looking around he could see cell phone towers, but not sophisticated ones like in their Central City. They looked fifteen years out-of-date. There also wasn’t a dedicated ‘satellite news’ power and processing station on the top of the world’s largest newspaper building, meaning they were not doing social media as advanced as their Earth was either. Even small papers like the Central City Citizen back home had at least one media news satellite systems on top of their building. It had a dedicated power system in its basement that ran the power relay with backups incase the city power blacked out.

“Maybe he didn’t notice our arrival?” Cisco suggested as he looked closer at the view from the top of the building.

“He noticed. He was just wondering what it was you wanted first.” A voice came from behind them.

Floating above the edge of the building stood a 6’2 man with dark hair, and a curl over his forehead. His suit, unlike Kara’s was made of a dark blue Kryptonian type of material. It had a red cape and boots, a gold belt, and the S coat of arms on his chest much bigger than Kara’s. He wasn’t armored in any way. He had his arms crossed under the symbol as he assessed the two strange looking men. Barry was of course in his red Flash suit. Cisco was in his strange ensemble of trench coat with the Vibe glasses and gloves still on.

Barry stepped forward and waved shyly. “Hi. You’re, Kal El, right?” He questioned the man softly, knowing he would not need to yell.

The man looked slightly confused. “Where did you hear that name?” He asked slightly more aggressively. He had not told anyone his real name, except Lois Lane-Kent, his wife of only three months. Only other Kryptonians had ever called him that, and the visit from his planet had not been a good one. General Zod had nearly killed him.

“Ok this is going to sound crazy,” Barry started keeping his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “We are from a different Earth.” He gave a slight wave to Cisco.

He also had his hands up a little. “Hi.” He greeted him, a little awe struck. Barry had explained about Kara’s powers but seeing them working in person was another level of believing. He was watching the gravitation waves around the man flicker as he produced his own that over powered the Earth’s gravitational field around him.

The man only raised a brow and floated closer so he could stand on the edge of the roof, “A different Earth?” He questioned, his tone still disbelieving.

“Right, do you know the Multiverse theory?” Barry asked quickly. “Kara did, so I am hoping you do so I don’t have to explain it in detail.”

Kal El nodded his head once. “It’s a little advanced for this Earth, but I do know the theory. Krypton did have advanced sciences and mathematics.” His studies after college had been in Kryptonian knowledge at the Fortress. It had taken him just over a year to complete what Krypton would consider primary schooling. He’d been surprised by the level of mathematics and learning that Kryptonian children did before the age of three. By four they were learning high school level knowledge from this Earth. By ten they would have had a full university education and have already started to tailor their knowledge towards their expected field of study.

During his down time from studying the database he had made a bit of a name for himself as a freelance journalist in South America and Africa, making the lives of the minor warlords in those areas difficult. It had been what allowed him to slip right into the City Desk at the Daily Planet. The highly sought after slot had been his after a single interview.

Clark was a klutz for a Kryptonian he’d learned. Even with his super speed and hyper aware senses, he still managed to knock over other people and papers on a regular basis. So far he’d managed not to show that side of himself as Superman, but then again he’d never had to handle a lot of files and papers while trying to save the world.

“Right, so we are from what we call Earth 1.” Barry quickly explained. “This is Earth 38. It’s called that because, the difference in the vibrations are thirty-seven hundred pico-hertz from our own Earth.”

“How did you get here?” Kal El asked, strangely accepting their explanation. It made sense to him, in theory. The Multiverse theory was actually the basis for the Phantom Zone. Creating pocket dimensions such as the Phantom Zone require understanding, with working math and theory of the Multiverse. But telling him that their Earth ran at a different vibration made their claim much more likely. Clark believed in ‘Occam’s Razor’ Theory. Right now he was leaning towards believing them, but not trusting them.

Barry waved to Cisco in a bit of an introduction gesture. “Very bare bones, but, on our Earth lots of humans have ‘powers’, they are called metahumans. Cisco here can see those Multiverse vibrations and open breaches to other places and Earths.” He pointed to Cisco who finally was paying more attention to the conversation than the waves of power he could see literally roiling off the man’s body.

Kal El, seemed a little more relaxed as they explained things and didn’t attack, though his guard was obviously still up. Barry continued his explanation since the man was listening politely. “I am what is known on several other Earths, as a speedster. I can run at over Mach thirteen so far, and I am getting faster all the time. When I started I was going at Mach Two. A few months back when I was training, there was an accident. I accidentally created and ran through a breach between dimensions. It took me to an Earth we call Earth 617. That’s where I met your cousin Kara Zor El, from this Multiverse’s Krypton.”

Clark blinked several times. While he had been studying about Krypton he’d found a recording about how he should have been raised by his older cousin. The plan had been for him and Kara to be sent to Earth together. There was only the one recording, the rest of them assumed that Kara either didn’t survive the trip, or had not gotten off Krypton in time. The other plan had been with Kara in her pod. Her crystals, which had the same information his did, were programed with the assumption that she was raising him, or had arrived alone.

The plan to send them to Earth had to be secret, and the plans to shoot them off into space had to be carried out at the last minute. The idea had nearly been scuttled when Kara’s Aunt, General Astra, and her Uncle Non In-Ze, had tried to carry out a plan that would have possibly saved Krypton, but wiped out all free will of the citizens. From what he’d uncovered the General and her husband had been caught and sentenced to the Phantom Zone Supermax Prison known as Fort Rozz. With the Phantom Zone projector he’d built after the General Zod incident on Earth, he’d managed to peak into the Phantom Zone and check that the Prison was still there. It was disheartening knowing that the only living Kryptonians in existence besides himself were criminals. Kara’s non-arrival on Earth had depressed him when he had found the file about her.

“You met Kara?” He was skeptical but he could think of no other way these two could have known any of the information they had without access to his Fortress.

Barry quickly filled Kal El in on the story of how Kara had been pulled through a breach caused by the explosion of the planet and slipped the rift to end up crashing onto Asgard. He explained she had lived there for a time before continuing on to Earth. It still took over ten minutes to give him the brief version.

“She sent you this?” Barry held out the Kryptonian crystal toward Kal El. “It’s basically a holo-letter, and she said to show you this.” He held out the necklace that Kara had given him with his other hand. He also handed over the pictures he’d taken of her and her pod, as well as the one of him standing in front of her pod in her Fortress.

Kal El took everything in his hand and stared deeply at the pictures. His vision told him that the necklace and crystal were both of Krypton. Though both were like the inside of his pod and the information crystals, unaffected by the radiation from the exploding planet that created Kryptonite. There was nowhere else that he knew of where these two objects could have come from. The pictures helped to solidify things. He could see enough in the background that the pod was in a building like his own Fortress, and the pod was exactly like his own.

“She did survive then.” He muttered softly as he took in the young looking girl in the photo. “I had thought she died with Krypton when she didn’t arrive.”

Barry looked sympathetic and shuffled his feet a bit. “She was locked in stasis for a long time. She’s been awake for twenty years between being born on Krypton, living on Asgard and Earth, but her aging was slowed and she looks, and physically is only sixteen, though mentally she is about twenty.”

Kal El looked surprised by that, “That certainly didn’t happen here. I’ve been here since 1976 and I have aged somewhat normally.”

Barry and Cisco looked at each other, curiosity splashed across both of the scientist’s faces. “Did you take a while to age at first?”

Kal El thought hard. “I recall mother saying I took two years before I seemed to grow as fast as other children, but after that I was almost normal, until my powers began to develop at about thirteen, at least.”

Barry nodded slowly as he thought about that. “A baby wouldn’t have had as much healing to do would be my guess. Kara had been an Asgardian Warrior before she came to Earth, so she would have had some battle damage to heal before she could grow. She also lived on Krypton under a red sun for eight years while you had barely one, and she had developed most of her powers on Asgard before she arrived on her Earth at seventeen.”

Clark had no doubts left. They were certainly from another world. That off-handed statement about how old he’d been when he left Krypton erased any doubts left. He could tell by Cisco’s heart rate, he wasn’t lying. Barry’s heart rate was too fast, but he assumed the accelerated heart rate was his resting one since it hadn’t fluctuated, so it wasn’t likely Barry was lying either.

“You said she also got her powers on Asgard, but they got stronger on her Earth though right.” Cisco piped in. He knew most of this, but he’d not gotten a chance to brush up in months on Kara’s story. There had been so much to do with Zoom, and the Stark Reactor that he’d forgotten some of the less dramatic facts.

Clark looked back down at the crystal. “Perhaps I should watch the hologram first before we continue with this.” He really couldn’t wait to see the message. It had been a huge disappointment when he found out Kara was supposed to make the journey and hadn’t made it. When the other Kryptonians had arrived he’d been doubly frustrated not to have a partner he could have counted on to watch his back.

To know she was alive filled him with a feeling of excitement and contentment. He was no longer alone. Sure she was on a different Earth, but they would be able to meet. He could finally meet his cousin Kara. She had known him as a child. A person he would never have to hide his abilities from. Someone he could compare skills and adventures with. He quickly clamped down on his expectations. He couldn’t get ahead of himself. He needed to see the crystal first, and then judge by her words who she was. Then he could get excited.

Barry nodded and gave him a brilliant smile. “Do you have somewhere we could meet? Top of a news building is asking for the kind of attention we are kind of hoping to avoid.” He looked around a bit sheepishly.

Kal El looked at the two once more. “Other than this,” He held up the crystal and looked at it once more. “Why are you here?”

“Kara saved me from becoming a science experiment for her world’s government black ops. I promised her if I could, I would send a message to you since we had the possibility to get the message to you, and she doesn’t have that kind of ability, or technology yet.” Barry gave him a firm smile. “She saved me and helped me return to my Earth before Cisco could even try and find me. I owed her, and this was the least I could do after everything she did for me. Besides, I consider her a friend.”

“And he risks his life on a regular basis for his friends.” Cisco chuckled with a touch of self-depreciation. There had been a few times Barry had needed to pull his butt out of a mess he’d made. Like the time he’d been kidnapped and forced to create a cold gun that had given Snart his moniker Captain Cold. There was also the time Savage had come after him because he was dating Kendra. And that was only the first two to come to mind. There were certainly others.

Clark looked at the red costume and nodded slowly. The men were obviously working as either vigilantes, or as superheroes. The mask was both functionary and helped hide his face, and the other’s glasses were distracting and covered enough of his face that without his x-ray vision he’d have trouble identifying them out of their ‘costumes’. Moving at the rates of speed, the first one had said he moved at would require a skin tight hood, and the covered ears had his earpieces in them, suggesting he worked with a team, likely this Cisco friend of his.

Clark looked out past the edge of the city. “There is an abandoned farm. It’s about twelve miles outside the city limits near the freeway exit number 8 sign with a line of trees between the highway and the buildings. It has a large red barn that looks like it’s about to fall apart. Inside it’s been reinforced with steel beams.” Clark told him pointing towards the area so Flash could get a direction to run in. “I’ll meet you there in about an hour.” He gave them the actual address so they could find the place.

The farm had been one of Clark’s staging areas for when he needed to work away from anywhere Lois could have caught him. She was so snoopy at work and when she stopped by his apartment before they had gotten together that he’d felt like he was on the edge of his seat each time she stopped by. He’d used the abandoned farm and fixed the inside with scrap metal he’d salvaged from a few places around the state.

“We’ll find it.” Barry promised. “One hour.” He moved over the Cisco who looked a little green.

“Oh man this is not my favorite way to travel.” He moaned as Barry moved to let him climb on his back.

Superman watched as they streaked their way away from the Daily Planet building. They had just left when Lois came charging out of the roof access door.

“What is going on up here?” She asked him, looking around for the men she had seen on the camera. She had long ago hijacked the CCTV feed for the roof to her desk so she could monitor Clark’s comings and goings. Seeing him up here with two men, one in a masked costume and one in shades and a strange trench coat had her racing up the stairs without a second thought.

Clark landed beside her. “They were visitors from another Earth. They know Kara Zor El.” He told her quietly as he hugged her to him. “They know my cousin, or at least the red costumed one met her.”

Lois bit her lip, “Another Kryptonian?” She asked hesitantly. She didn’t have good memories of the last visit by anyone from his home world.

He shook his head to reassure her. “They were humans. The red costumed one is a ‘meta-human’ speedster, he said.” Clark explained to her, “Seems to be common thing in the multiverse since there is a name for his kind of ‘superpowers’.”

Lois sighed in one of those sighs that Clark knew she was trying to be accepting but wasn’t there yet. “You are going to meet them again aren’t you?” She already knew the answer, and she really couldn’t blame him. She empathized with him. He knew he wasn’t alone in the universe, but every other Kryptonian alive was a criminal from the prison pocket dimension. Krypton kept ‘white collar criminals’ on planet. They were put through rehabilitation services. Only those deemed irredeemable or too dangerous to be released were sent to the Phantom Zone with off-world alien criminals.

Even before the invasion by the three War Criminals, General Zod and his friends, Lois had known that the Kryptonian race had been somewhat arrogant and had a supremacy issue. Jor El’s holographic image had been dismissive of her the first time she had been to the Fortress. James had complained to her of the same treatment when Clark had asked him to join him there one time. Jor El had expected Kal El to live above them, like a benevolent god in the flesh, not among them as he was. Clark never had the inclination to ever do that ever, for which Lois was forever grateful. That still left Kara Zor El. From what she remembered about the girl, she had been eight or nine when she left Krypton. She was old enough to have their attitude problem.

Clark nodded slowly as he tried to assess her mood. “First I have to go back to our apartment and see the message she sent.” He held up the message crystal and the necklace in his hand.

Lois sighed again and stepped back. “Just be careful.” She asked him, confident that he’d be alright, but worried about him none the less.

“Always,” He told her with a smile and he ran his knuckles softly along her cheek before he turned and flew away at a moderate speed, for Superman, which meant he only broke the sound barrier once. Lois waited a moment, taking several deep breathes before she turned to go inside. She was about to the door when James Olson walked out onto the roof. He was Clark’s best friend, and Lois’s go to person when she needed to talk about anything Superman related.

“Is everything ok?” He asked her after looking quickly around for Clark. At six foot, James Olson was a tall athletic man. He had to be to keep up with Lois and Clark when they were on assignments together.

Lois nodded but she bit her lip. “Two humans from a different Earth have stopped by to give him a message from his cousin, the one that was supposed to help raise him here on our Earth.” She explained quietly, not that anyone could hear them, but it never hurt to be careful when discussing anything related to Superman.

James leaned back and whistled. “Yeah, I remember looking her up on the Kryptonian database.” James had been curious and Clark hadn’t minded. James had done a complete background check on Clark’s biological family. Kara’s maternal aunt and her husband were alive in the Phantom Zone for ‘Treason and other major crimes against Krypton’, none of which were actually named in the records. The name of the judge in that case had been Kara’s mother, Alura Zor El, twin sister to the accused. The other members of the family had all been upstanding and would be considered wealthy elite. All were listed as deceased when the planet exploded.

Krypton had been relatively feudal in their living. Family compounds of up to fifty people would live in giant crystal skyscrapers with large gardens all within enclosed cities. Some families, like the El family had several compounds, but the House of El was among the elite of the Kryptonian society. Early schooling was done in the compounds, and then once they were of grade school age, they were then sent to academies to learn the more advanced sciences, math and other subjects.

In the twenty generations, since the founding of Krypton the House of El had been on the ruling council. All records about the founding, and anything from before was not accessible. Any time Clark or James had tried to get information about why the planet needed to be ‘formed’ the database had shutdown, or refused to answer any question saying the information was not available.

“She was the only biological family he had.” James confirmed for her and he rested his large hand on her shoulder comfortingly. “Even the aunt and uncle in the Phantom Zone are related to Kara, not him.” Even their family name was different, General Astra and Non In-Ze. It was only because Kara’s mother had been listed as Alura In-Ze prior to her marriage that they made the connection.

“Yeah, I’m just worried,” Lois confided to him, her concern deeply etched in her face. “We are talking about other Earths, James! What next? I mean aliens I got used to… super powered humans, I can accept that. But other Earths too; isn’t that a bit much?”

James sighed as he sympathized with her. “Is it really so strange that humans began to evolve enough to be ready for these types of things?” While it hadn’t happened here so far, it was always possible.

Lois shook her head. “No! Aliens were hard enough to imagine… but Multiple Earths?”

James shrugged his shoulder slowly. “Yeah… I’m just going to let that one sit for a day or two before I try to wrap my head around that.” He drawled out as he plastered a smile on his face and tried to look unconcerned.

Lois’s laugh was brittle sounding. “So that’s your secret for accepting the weird?”

James just gave her a deeper smile and a fond look. “My best friend is an alien, so yeah that’s how I deal with the weird… Ignore it as long as possible until it seems normal, and then hope it doesn’t come back and bite me in the ass.”

Lois laughed a little harshly, but gave him a genuine attempt at a smile. “Wish that worked for my dad.” General Lane was a huge pain in the ass for Lois and Clark. So much so that she hadn’t spoken to him outside of family events like Christmas and her wedding since shortly after she found out Clark’s secret. Even her being ‘saved’ by Superman multiple times had not earned him an ounce of trust with General Lane. Strangely, he liked Clark Kent when he had the time to meet and talk to him.

James raised his brows in exasperation, “You and me both!” He’d ended his relationship with Lois’s sister Lucy over a year ago due to her issues with accepting his ‘professional relationship’ with Superman. Much like her father she was of the opinion that if Superman didn’t work for the US government, he should be locked up. He was too much of a possible threat to the United States.

Lois gave him a sympathetic smile of her own before they both walked back inside. Some days it hurt to be Superman’s wife or his best friend. Most days they were very grateful, but some days the drama was stressful. Both of them would worry until Clark reported back what the message said.

Clark entered their apartment and went to the wall safe where he kept the access panel to the hidden panic room that housed all his Superman uniforms and Kryptonian technology he kept in Metropolis. Included was a device that was the Kryptonian equivalent to a laptop. He took the small projector out and placed it on the dining room table. He took a deep breath then sat down in front of the device. Looking down at the crystal he steadied himself before he placed the message crystal into the receptacle.

“Play Message,” He ordered more harshly then he normally would.

On the screen was a teenage black haired girl with green eyes. She was wearing a shirt with a giant A on it and black jeans. She looked a little frazzled and unsure of herself. If he hadn’t seen the photos of a blonde Kara, he’d have shut off the message and ignored the hope in his chest. He certainly didn’t know the girl on the screen.

“Hi Kal El,” The message started. “You were literally just a baby when I last saw you so I know you won’t remember me. I am your supposedly older cousin Kara Zor El.” Clark wasn’t sure what to think so far. The young girl he had seen in images that Kelex had supplied and that the Red suited man had shown him was of a blonde girl, and she had blue eyes like he did, not bright green like the image on the screen.

“Our fathers were brothers, yours was the older one. You were born when I was eight years old. Some issues with my pod have left me unsure what year it was on Earth when we left Krypton, but I’m sure I arrived at least a decade or two behind you. Currently I am twenty-one.”

Clark took a deep breath. That was what Barry had said. That she had been in stasis for quite some time, over a decade, possibly two and a bit by the looks of her.

“This is harder than I thought it would be.” The message continued. The girl was obviously nervous and seemed insecure. “I’m not even sure what to tell you. And yet there is so much to tell you that I don’t even know where to begin for this message.” Kara’s message continued. Clark sat leaning forward to catch as much of the girl’s expressions as he could with the message. The fact she could use Kryptonian tech was the only reason he was still being open minded. So far nothing seemed real, and he was growing more disappointed by the second.

She ran her fingers through her hair as she looked at the camera with tears in her eyes. “First though I want to apologize for not being there for you when you were growing up. My pod was caught in the shockwave, and if I hadn’t been pulled into Multiverse 617 I don’t know what would have happened to me. The pod was damaged slightly by the shockwave, and I was so near the Phantom Zone I likely would have ended up inside it if I survived at all. The last thing your father asked of me was to look after you. I am so sorry I failed to do that.” Clark was taken aback by the emotion in her apology. She was either really sorry, or one of the best actresses Clark had ever seen.

She bit her lip in thought before continuing, “In this Multiverse Asgard is still around and I landed there first before coming to Earth 617. I was raised by their Queen, Frigga. I stayed there and learned everything about this universe from her and then when I was of age I moved to Earth. It took over two years to figure out all the changes from the Earth you live on compared to this one.” She stopped to laugh a little at herself.

“Pause message.” Clark called out. The image froze. “Kelex, is it possible?” He asked the computer terminal. “Was Asgard between Krypton and Earth?”

Kelex took a moment to respond. “All information about Asgard is restricted.”

Clark paused and furrowed his brow in concentration. “What do you mean all information about Asgard is restricted? What else is restricted?”

Kelex paused. “All information of history from before Krypton was formed is restricted. All information of the ‘Nine Realms’ and the fate of the Realms are forbidden.”

“What? Why would it be restricted?” Clark asked in frustration. “It was a different planet!”

“All knowledge of the origins of Krypton was to be forgotten.” Kelex’s voice sounded as if it was straining to answer.

Clark had studied Mythology as part of the religions of Earth, and written history when he attended University and High School. He found the information helped to understand human development and cultures when he knew about the backgrounds. “Does this have to do with Ragnarök, King Odin, or the Nine Realms he ruled over?”

Kelex paused much longer than before. “That information is restricted.” Clark understood that was as close to a yes as he was going to get.

“You realize I studied all this on Earth and the humans have thousands of books on the subject.” Clark sighed frustrated with the system.

Kelex paused. “Human history and mythology would not have the information about the founding of Krypton, after the events of the Ragnarök prophecy came to pass.”

Clark was speechless. “Are Kryptonians the survivors of Asgard?”

“No.” Kelex immediately reply.

Clark’s eyes narrowed as he thought about the answer. “Are Kryptonians the survivors for any the Nine Realms survivors after Ragnarök?”

“That information is restricted.” Was the immediate reply and not from Kelex this time but from the voice of his father Jor El. “All aspects of this subject are restricted.”

“Why?” Clark cried out in frustration. “If I’m all that’s left, what does it matter if I know we are descended from the beings that ruled Asgard or lived in the Nine Realms?”

“That information is restricted. Only the highest ranking members of the council of twelve can unlock the knowledge,” was the stern reply. It was not often that Jor El appeared when he was speaking to Kelex. His father had strange ideas of how Clark was supposed to live on Earth and the hologram let him know that his father would disapprove of his life whenever possible. Clark didn’t agree and had stopped speaking to his father’s AI persona once he decided to ask Lois to marry him.

“So no one will ever know since I am the only surviving member of the council.” Clark snarled.

Kelex’s voice came up, “Valid response.”

“The information is restricted without a majority vote by the council.” Jor El’s voice argued. “It requires seven votes. As Kal EL only has one vote it is impossible to unlock the restrictions.”

Clark sat back and listened. It was rare for the computer to debate the restrictions. Usually it gave him whatever information he wanted. Sometimes the database just didn’t have the answer programed, like the reason General Astra and her husband Non In-Ze were in prison. It just wasn’t there. Every so often he asked a question that was locked, and to unlock the answers he’d needed to reach a certain milestone, like development of a power or a certain age. When he had first started to see through things at age thirteen for example, the database would have unlocked and told him about his expected powers that would develop on Earth due to its yellow sunlight, if he had access to the database at the time. He hadn’t created the Fortress until after he’d turned twenty. By then he had gained all his powers, including flight, which had been the last one he’d learned to control.

He decided to finish the message while the computer had its debate, “Continue message.”

“One of the biggest changes is the level of development.” Her message continued. “In some way there are better technologies here than on your Earth, but I am the only Kryptonian in my universe. Krypton never formed here. Our entire star system never formed.” She brushed a lone tear that had fallen down her cheek.

That made Clark consider the locked information, it was obvious that Krypton was populated by the remains of the Nine Realms. The idea the system never formed was mind-blowing. He watched the screen more closely now, trying to see if he could learn more to use against the Jor El blocks in the database.

“I’ve been lucky to have found some very good friends, and have even paired up with some other heroes here. If you’ve gotten this message then you have met Flash. I mostly work with a billionaire genius named Tony Stark... He said to say hi by the way… I don’t know about your Earth. I mean I don’t know if he exists, or is even the same age if he does. Here he is in his forties and so rich that it is staggering. As his assistant, Kara Stark, I have resources to aid people even when I am not flying around helping people in danger.”

“I am guessing that your Earth has a yellow sun and you developed the same powers I did; Super speed, flight, strength, invulnerability, heat vision, x-ray vision, icy breath.” She paused then gave a shy smile. “I use my powers to help save civilian lives, but I am also an ambassador to Earth from Asgard so I have double duties.” Clark wondered what those duties could be. Flash had mentioned she had been an Asgardian warrior before she moved to her Earth.

“Oh yeah, a big change here is that Magic is real.” She chuckled as she took a pendant from under her shirt to show the camera. “I have access to some…” Her face fell as before the image sparkled with green and gold before the dark hair and green eyes melted away and she became the same girl from the pictures Flash had shown him earlier. More surprising was the armor that covered her. It looked advanced and medieval at the same time. Clark just couldn’t believe his eyes. This was something he’d have to ask Flash about. He also fully believed she was who she said she was now. This was the image he’d been expecting.

His ‘costume’ was made of a Kryptonian fabric that acted much like padded spandex, but it was much more durable and protective from elements. Kara’s armor was actually a similar color scheme. Her armored chest plate was colored a dark blue that was a close match to his, and both had their ‘S shaped’ House Symbol covering the chest in gold. Both of them had a red cape. Kara’s armor had golden vambraces, and from her sitting position he couldn’t see her from the waist down to her feet. He was assuming she had followed the color scheme of the House of El and her boots would be red and her belt gold like his own.

“That was a glamor spell. This is my natural look, and my armor.” She explained with a sigh. “When I earn the rank of Warrior on Asgard, my foster mother Frigga had my armor designed for me. The House of El crest front and center of course, and the Royal house of Odin designs are on my vambraces.” She said holding her forearms up to the camera.

“The people of Earth call me Supergirl because of the crest.” She laughed deprecatingly. Clark couldn’t help but laugh too. He’d been given the name Superman, by Lois. It wasn’t something he would have chosen for himself if he’d been asked.

“I’m not so fond of the name, but since Kara Stark is the secret identity, I use my dad’s name of Zor El as my ‘alien name’ as far as Earth’s governments are concerned.” Clark was impressed. Her secret identity would be much harder for the government to see through then his.

She looked down at her hands that she had dropped to her lap. “I hope you get a chance to respond, and I hope I get a chance to meet you. Barry is going to try and figure something out, but I don’t know how our futures are going to work out. I was pulled through to this Universe by powerful beings called ‘The Norns’ according to Frigga. I have a task I need to complete. I don’t know what the future holds, but I would really love to see you again. So maybe we can at least visit each other, I doubt I’ll be allowed to stay very long.”

Clark felt a tear roll down his own cheek at the sadness and the sudden loss he felt after her words. He hadn’t even realized how much his hopes had risen once he saw the new image and heard their shared powers and names by the public. They already had so much in common and they hadn’t even met.

“I really hope you’ve had a good life on your Earth, Kal El. If possible please send a message back.” She looked at the camera and managed to smile sadly. “Goodbye, Kal El.”

The image winked out and Clark was left staring at the wall. He now had more questions than when he started the message. One thing he was sure of, that was his cousin Kara, and she certainly had an interesting tale to tell!


	2. Returning to Earth 1

**Part 4 - Arrowverse comes knocking - Ch 2 – Returning to Earth 1**

Clark was running late. It had taken him a while to pull himself together after the message was finished playing. The computer was still locked in its internal debate about if it would release the information about Asgard or not.

Barry had literally worn a groove in the barn from door to door down the center. Cisco had stopped watching and moved outside to watch the skies for Superman. In part because watching Barry move that fast made him dizzy and slightly nauseated, and he was stirring up the dirt floor, making particles fly around that was getting in Cisco’s hair. Clark landed before Cisco fully understood the speck in the sky was actually the Man of Steel.

Cisco couldn’t help but ask him about the gravitational forces around him. “Did you know you actually make your own gravity and not actually defy Earth’s? The waves you put out actual push Earth natural forces away from your body.”

Clark looked surprised as he turned his attention towards the strange young metahuman. “No, I just knew that I could jump far and high enough to go over our barn as a kid, and later I gained the ability to fly.” He told him, somewhat surprised he’d never thought about it before. It was just something that evolved for him over time. At first it was small jumps, and then larger and larger ones, until he could control his body enough to hover, and then finally fly.

Barry came out and joined them when he heard their voices. “Kara didn’t go through steps, she just flew. She said she never had a time she couldn’t once she knew she could generate her own fields. She just naturally knew how to control them.”

“She knew about these fields?” Clark asked surprised by the news.

Barry nodded slowly and looked a little uncertain. “I think some Asgardians could see the fields, like Cisco can I guess. Or maybe it’s a kind of magic or something that lets some of them see it?” He shrugged uncertainly. He’d only spent a little over two hours talking with her about everything over their dinner before they had gone out to the museum.

Clark’s features hardened a little. “What can you tell me about the Asgardians? My computer is refusing to tell me anything about our Asgard, only that it was destroyed prior to Krypton’s emergence.”

Barry blinked and blushed a bit. “Well that was what Kara talked about most when we were discussing our pasts. So I can tell you a bit. She and I only covered the basics though. I was only on her Earth for a few hours, it wasn’t all that long.”

Clark nodded and his features softened. “Sorry, the computer was being aggravating. Perhaps we can sit down in the hidden room I have here.”

“Hidden room?” Cisco questioned him excitedly. Barry gave him a huge grin and quickly followed after Clark.

Clark led them over to a hidden area behind an old hay pile. The pile smelled of old mildew and the hay looked as if it had been climbed on. Near the wall was a small rock, Clark moved it to expose what looked like an old rune. Pressing his hand to it made a secret opening. The floor roughly twice the size of Clark shifted down and to the side, allowing for him to fly down.

“I’ll lower you one at a time since the opening is small.” He told them. Barry stepped forward first and Clark grabbed his arms. Knowing about the gravitational field made what he was doing make more sense. He’d done this unintentionally with Lois when he took her flying. As long as he was in physical contact he could extend his field over a person and let them fly with him. That’s why she could fly beside him until their hands had dropped and then she had begun to fall.

He lowered Barry down and then quickly got Cisco. The opening above them closed leaving them in complete darkness for a moment before the lights slowly lit up. Inside the room was a single chair like the ones at Kara’s Fortress and a small pedestal in front of a blank wall. It reminded Barry of the room Gideon was stored in at STAR Labs.

“Kelex, have you both finished the argument yet?” Clark asked the computer.

“No, Kal El.” It replied.

“Listen in then. Barry Allen is about to fill me in on what Kara has learned on her Asgard.” Clark ordered with a hint of his frustration still filtering through.

Barry and Cisco quickly made themselves at home on the floor while Clark sat across from them in the single chair. “Sorry I don’t have more chairs but this is my staging area before I got married.”

Barry waved him off. “Don’t worry about it honestly.” He made a mental note to tell Clark about the article when they got to Earth 1. His wife would write the “Super-Crisis” article with Iris. He had as much right to know about it as they did.

“I saw her message.” Clark gave Barry a small smile. “At first I wasn’t sure it was the right person.”

Barry chuckled as he remembered that she’d entered the room as Kara and left as Supergirl, “The Black hair and green eyes right?” He asked with a knowing smirk. “She came out in her regular armor and blonde ‘Supergirl’ look after she recorded the message. I’m guessing she showed you a bit of magic.”

“I really want a reading of it when she does that.” Cisco muttered, looking wistful. Clark knew that look. Lois got the same look when she was planning her next story.

Clark nodded and looked a bit more relaxed. “Magic is something I know exists, but Kryptonians don’t have the ability to use it, at least not that I was aware of.”

Kelex spoke up. “Kryptonians do not have the required genes active to use magic. They are there, just dormant.”

All three turned to the little robot figure that was being projected on the wall behind the pedestal. “So we have the gene, but it’s not active?” Clark questions softly. Was it possible Kara’s genes had been turned on?

“All humanoid beings have the magical gene. It is turned off in almost all of the current species in the galaxy of this multiverse.” Kelex replied. “A small group of humans have broken parts of the seals and the rare being in some of the other races have been partially awoken. None since Ragnarök have managed to become fully magical since. Only the greater beings still have their magic, and they have mostly hidden themselves away since the death of magic in mortal beings.”

“Loki was a full-fledged Arch Mage before his disappearance.” Barry told them. “He made the pendant that Kara wears. It houses the magic she uses to power her illusionary magic and her storage space.”

“That is something else I so want a look at.” Cisco muttered, “Anime style pockets! I so want to get me one of those.” He sighed wistfully.

If their conversation hadn’t been so serious Clark would have laughed. Barry just grinned at Cisco in agreement. It would be great if he could carry his suit with him instead of having to return to STAR Labs every time The Flash was needed. Thawne had that technology, so it would be possible in the future.

Clark nodded slowly. This was starting to give him a headache. “How about an overview of what you know.”

“Ok so I took Norse Mythology in collage as one of my courses.” Barry began.

“As did I,” Clark told him.

Barry nodded and looked relieved that he wouldn’t have to start with a history of the Norse gods and their stories. “Okay, so there are some differences in the mythologies. For starters all the mythos after 800 AD was pretty much debunked by Kara. From what she said around 980AD when the last great war on Midgard was fought between the Frost Giants and the Asgardians. In our worlds it looks like Ragnarök happened around then. In her world, something happened long before that, and it changed the history of their world.”

“What was that?” Cisco asked. He was the only one who hadn’t taken a course on Norse history or myths.

“Loptr, Odin’s adopted brother was never borne or at least never brought to Asgard to be adopted. That means Balder still lives, and none of the Loptr’s stories are real on Kara’s Asgard.” Barry told them.

Clark sat back. That made a lot of sense to him. Loptr and Odin’s relationship had gone from not close to hostile after the death of Balder, with Odin taking his anger out on Loptr’s children. Odin had backed Loptr into a corner, killed several of his children, and then imprisoned him in a torturous cave with dripping venom and other physical torments. It was when his magic unleashed a huge earthquake that he’d been freed and he then lead Asgard’s enemies against Odin and Asgard to cause Ragnarök.

Barry waited while Clark took in the changes. Cisco looked a little lost but he was keeping quiet so as to not make the conversation go off-course.

“I can see how that would change almost all of their history and stop Ragnarök.” Clark admitted, “More than half the myths that are well known are about Loptr and his children, or Thor and Loptr, or Odin and his brother.”

Barry nodded and continued to explain the state of affairs on Asgard as he knew them. “Odin and Frigga had another child after Thor, just after the war. His name is Loki, and he has taken Loptr’s mantels of Mischief and Lies, but none of his history. He is only a teenager by their own standards. So far he has no children and was never married.”

“Wait so the Wolf, Sea Serpent, and half-dead chick aren’t running around in her galaxy because they weren’t born?” Cisco asked. Everyone knew Loptr’s basic story thanks to pop culture stories and comic books based on Norse Mythology, but not all the details someone who had studied the myths would know.

“Hela, was a Queen of the Dead on my Earth,” Barry corrected him. “If Loptr didn’t father her, she, or at least her soul, would still have been born in Kara’s Asgard. They would still need a Queen of the Dead to oversee their dishonored dead, unless someone else is the Queen of the Dead. Kara didn’t mention her, but we did only talk about the stories for a very short amount of time. As to the others, I really don’t know. I just know if they exist they aren’t Loptr’s or Loki’s.”

Clark again nodded slowly as he processed the information. “So I would need to speak to Kara to learn everything I need to know.”

Barry agreed with him. “Yeah, I’m just a messenger. I have the few pictures she gave me as proof and Loki is in that one,” He handed the pictures over with the one of Kara and Loki on top so he could see it again. “The one with the black hair young man with her is Loki Odinson.”

Clark looked over the photos and couldn’t help smiling at the mix of female fantasy armor and his own costume. She must have decided to use the family colors for her hero costume. Though the skirt being red was something he had skipped on his costume, he’d felt a red pair of shorts over tights was a little weird, he’d grown up on Earth so the strange Kryptonian clothes and customs still were a bit off to him.

He also noticed the black mourning outfit when she wasn’t in the armor, but still in her ‘Supergirl persona’. He was unsure how to ask who she was mourning. He wasn’t even sure Kara would have told him.

He looked closer at the India picture. Kara was in her blonde natural looks standing next to a boy a year or two older than her. The two were obviously close. He had his arm around her shoulders and she was looking up at him with a look of pure happiness while he was looking at the camera and smiling contently.

“He’s her foster brother Loki?” Clark questioned softly. Of course Barry had already answered that question when he had handed the picture over.

He felt a pang of jealousy. He’d been alone for most of his life. The only family he’d had growing up had been John and Martha Kent. Everyone else had to be kept at arms lengths in case they found out what he was. Smallville had been well named. It was a small farming community. His high school had only about three hundred students from the surrounding towns to make even that number of students. His friends from then kept in touch online via email, and texts, but he rarely saw them now. John Kent had passed away in a car accident when Clark was in college and Martha had taken a job that took her from Smallville and closer to Metropolis, but not in the city itself. The Kent Farm was still in the family as Martha hadn’t sold it. She was renting the house to a family and the fields out to a neighboring farmer. She used the money to pay the taxes and put the rest away for her retirement.

Barry hesitated as he thought about how she had tried to explain the relationship, “She said that “fostering” the best translation. She’s his mother, the Queen’s ward, but it’s more than a fostering, it sounded like more, at least to me.”

Clark’s newspaper reporter radar picked up on the way Barry was talking. “So Royal Ward, like an actual ward, or as in a fostering to marriage situation, like Mary Queen of Scots being raised by the French Court so she would be thought of as a true Queen of France rather than a foreigner married to their King?” He asked shrewdly.

Barry blushed and looked down. “That’s something that you’d have to talk to her about. I don’t know if she knows Loki is alive, but I know she doesn’t like Thor enough to consider anything with him.”

Cisco snapped his fingers drawing both of them to look at him. “That’s right. She was mourning him when you were there. We only found out he was alive when the newspaper article changed.”

“What newspaper article?” Clark asked. He was beginning to half wish he’d ignored them on the roof. He was on information overload. “You know what.” He said holding up his hand to stop Barry before he could start to explain. “I can’t right now. I have too much information right now as it is.”

Barry nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get it. I was only there for a few hours, but Kara kept blowing my mind with things that she took for granted, like a cold fusion arc reactor.”

Clark pinched his nose as he lowered his head. Barry without meaning too had once more given him too much to think about. Kara’s Earth was way more advanced than even Barry’s, which in turn was more advanced than his own. Already he had an idea of how far advanced Barry’s world was. A world with cold fusion was about twenty to thirty years from where this Earth was, if it tried for it. Over the last few years Wayne Enterprises was always putting out technology that seemed to advance them forward in surges. They were due to launch a new set of products later this year.

Cold Fusion technology had taken a huge step back on this Earth with the terrorist event that created the supervillain Reactron. He was a man who literally had nearly killed Clark in one of their encounters since his accident. He dressed in an advanced Bio Medical Suit due to the burns he received during the meltdown of the reactor that killed his wife Alyssa Krull.

When the nuclear plant had melted down and he hadn’t been able to save everyone, the federal grants for research into other forms of fusion technology had dried up. Many tech firms weren’t willing to play with Research and Development into technology that even Superman couldn’t react fast enough to save people from.

“I did it again.” Barry muttered self-consciously. “Sorry man.”

Clark sighed and shook his head a little. “It’s just a bit much.”

Barry sat down and was quiet for several minutes. Cisco who didn’t do well with quiet felt the need to break the silence. “So yeah we were supposed to drop you a line and see if you wanted to see her. If you did we can take you to her, or we can see about delivering a message from you or whatever you wanted to do.” He offered to Clark. He was twitching a little from excitement and nervousness.

“Let me make a call.” Clark told them suddenly as he stood and walked over to the opening. “I’ll be right back.” He flew out of the bunker quickly leaving the two deep underground.

“I don’t suppose you can run up that wall?” Cisco asked Barry sarcastically. He knew Barry needed momentum to run vertical.

Barry shook his head. “No ladder right.”

“Nope,” Cisco rolled his eyes. He could Vibe them out if the “Man of Steel” didn’t come back in an hour. “Best get comfortable.” He sat in the chair and put his feet up on the table, only for Kelex to solidify and push his feet off.

“It’s rude to put your feet on the table.” It responded.

Cisco regained his balance and glared at the robot. Barry laughed softly.

Up above the bunker Clark had taken out his phone and dialed Lois. When she picked up he could hear the noise of the Daily Planet’s busy newsroom. “Lois Lane.” She called into the cell phone, obviously not looking to see who had called her.

“Hey, Lois,” He said softly.

It was a voice she knew well it meant that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “How long will you be gone?” She sighed heavily. She knew they both couldn’t go. Someone had to cover for ‘Clark’ and Superman.

“I don’t know.” He couldn’t help the sadness that warred with the excitement. “There are so many questions that she could answer.” He trailed off.

Lois felt a wave of fear and dread. Not that she thought he wouldn’t come back. She wished she could go and meet this cousin. She also worried that Clark would be disappointed. He’d been disappointed once before, by the General Zod and his lieutenants and by the attitude of his father’s hologram during that time. She could only hope Clark wouldn’t be as disappointed by Kara.

“I know you have to go, just be careful and come home when you can.” She told him as calmly as she could.

Clark smiled grimly at her attempt to make him feel less guilty for leaving. He could hear the tattletale beating of her heart and the harshness of her breathing that she was holding back her real thoughts. “I’ll try to be back soon. A few days at most, I promise.”

“Make sure she knows she is welcome at our place anytime.” Lois added softly. As anxious as the idea of meeting his cousin was, she would never try to keep her out of his life by making her feel unwelcome in their home.

Clark was pleased with Lois’s courage, though he was surprised by the offer. “Really, I didn’t think you’d want another Kryptonian around after last time.” He answered uncertainly.

Lois shook her head and smiled fondly at the look she imagined on his face, the bewildered farm boy look. “She’s your blood family. If she is anything like you, I can’t wait to meet her.”

Clark looked down to the barn sadly. “I don’t want to leave you without any warning but, I really have to do this now. They are expecting to just take a message back with them.”

Lois shook her head softly, even though he couldn’t see it, she knew he often could hear her movement even over the phone. “No, go with them.” She told him a little sternly and louder as Perry White, the editor of the newsroom began to walk by. “Follow them, find out what you can, and I’ll write up this story. We’ll look further into it when you get back.” Perry stopped by her desk. The look on his face showed he was excited by the idea that Lois and Clark had a hot story.

“Is that Clark?” He asked gruffly, knowing it had to be if Lois wasn’t racing out to follow the suspect on her own.

Clark heard him and knew he had to hang up quickly since Lois was already working a cover story for him. “I’ll get back as soon as I can.” He hung up just as Perry was about to ask more questions.

Perry turned to Lois as she hung up the phone, “What are you two working on?”

Lois decided to keep it simple. “Superman has a lead on a cousin that might have been trapped in that Phantom Zone, a non-criminal cousin.”

Perry rocked back on his heels. “Great Caesar’s Ghost! Clark has the scoop?”

Lois nodded slowly. “Superman wanted a second opinion on some of his calculations. He asked for Clark to help him since he trusts us so much. He’s had issues lately with a secret government agency intruding when he goes to STAR Labs recently for help with these things.” She lied quickly. “He also wanted Clark’s opinion on if the public would accept her after the last incident.”

Perry nodded sagely. He had great respect for the relationship between Clark, Lois, and Superman. He’d never printed anything that could hurt their relationship with the superhero. “Keep me posted, and let’s keep this to ourselves. I want the scoop!” Perry ordered her softly.

Lois nodded and gave him her most serious ‘yes chief’. Perry nodded and rubbed his hands together excitedly as he walked back to his office. Lois rolled her eyes at James who was standing nearby so he’d know she would fill him in later. James gave her a wink that told her he’d be by that evening to get the scoop when no one could overhear them.

Clark landed quietly behind them now that he’d finished talking to Lois. “Gentlemen, rather than sending a message back. I’d like to actually go and see her.”

Barry nodded with a big grin. “I was hoping you’d say that, but I didn’t want to pressure you.”

Cisco clapped his shoulder and winced at how solid he was. Barry winced along with him. Kara had clapped his shoulder like that and he’d felt how solid they were. Cisco expecting a bit of give as if he’d slapped a human and was surprised to find him as solid as a stone wall. “Talk about solid muscle.” He muttered as he stretched his fingers.

Clark looked down with a sheepish look. “Sorry, I usually move a bit when people do that. You surprised me.”

“We had best be going,” Cisco said as he looked at his slightly sore hand. “I want to vibe to Earth 1 first so Caitlin doesn’t try and kill me later for doing a dimension to dimension jump without checking in first.” He explained to Barry and Clark.

Barry nodded seriously before turning to Clark. “Caitlin is our personal doctor and usually she oversees my vitals and stuff when I’m out on missions. She likes to give us health checks when I do new things to make sure I don’t overdo it. This time she can’t monitor us over our satellite links so she’ll be chewing her nails waiting for us to come back. Plus Cisco is still learning his powers so she’ll be extra worried.”

Clark nodded with an excitement he could barely contain. “So what do I need to bring with me?”

“I think you should bring some civilian clothes, and anything you think Kara needs to see.” Cisco suggested carefully. “Just try not to bring anything big. It has to fit through the breach, and I can’t make those too big yet.”

Kelex spoke up. “I suggest a crystal with; some personal pictures, a complete listing of your abilities, and your Kryptonian level of study. She would have completed her studies to at least to a kryptonian junior-high level before she left Krypton, and likely studied beyond that level.”

“Hey Kelex, just how far would that be by Earth standards?” Barry asked. Several times Kara had expected him to know things that had been only theoretical on his own Earth. He wondered how much of that was because of her Earth verses his, and how much was because Krypton was so far in advance of any of their Earths.

“Many of your theoretical maths do not equate to the level of precision that Kara Zor El would have studied. Your high school calculus is taught to young Kryptonians in their early grade school level of education.” Kelex clarified for him.

Barry and Cisco’s mouths dropped while Clark groaned and hung his head. “I never did finish Kryptonian grade school levels. It didn’t seem necessary since it was so beyond what humans here are capable of.” He admitted with a level of embarrassment that showed on his pink cheeks.

“You also have not learned Kryptonese.” Kelex added disapprovingly.

Barry bit his lip to keep from chuckling. Cisco was smiling widely. “Can we see some of these primers so we can learn it?” He asked breathlessly. Any advanced maths that could help him to invent even better gear for his friends was an opportunity Cisco wasn’t willing to pass up.

“I will add them and Kal El can share them if he so choses.” Kelex added with the equivalent of an AI sniff of disappointment in his primary user.

Kal El closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It took several seconds before he released it and looked much calmer. “I will need about a half hour to collect everything I need then.” He looked to both men equally. “Would you rather wait down here or above?”

“Above.” Both replied immediately. Clark couldn’t help but smile at the certainty they both displayed. He took them up and quickly hid his entrance before he flew off with a promise to be quick.

“What do you think about all that?” Cisco asked Barry once he was sure Kal El was out of earshot.

Barry shrugged. “It looks like Kal El is going to get a crash course in Asgardian culture and history whether the computer wants him to or not.”

Cisco nodded slowly. “Kinda gives you the impression that the Kryptonians aren’t a race of their own.”

Barry nodded slowly. “Yeah, it doesn’t take a genius to see that.”

Even taking a few minutes to think about what Clark wanted to bring with him from the apartment, he was in and out within ten minutes. The trip to the Fortress took longer in part because the image of his father followed him around reminding him it was his job to protect this Earth, not to go tripping through the multiverse. That it was in fact against Kryptonian law.

Clark got fed up with the antagonizing image he called out. “Kelex, disable my father and uncle’s images until further notice.”

Kelex shut it down mid-sentence and Clark ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t suppose that disabled the blocks on the knowledge I want about Asgard?”

Kelex responded with a touch of regret in its voice. “No, the locks are still in place. However if Kara was on Asgard itself, her locks might be disabled.”

Clark paused but nodded his head slowly. “That’s actually a good point.” He walked over to the bookcase that held all his books on history. There wasn’t much on the Viking Gods. He had Kelex pull up the myths of Asgard and sped through them. He wanted as much information as he could get. Knowing the myths of this Earth would give him a basic knowledge of the one she was on, he hoped.

He quickly loaded all of his knowledge crystals and a few blank ones thinking they could share information that he might have on his database and what was on hers. He was guessing that since she hadn’t travelled with Barry that she had tasks to complete in her own universe, just as he did his. Still the part of him that wished deeply for a chance to meet his family couldn’t help but pray that she would be accepting of him, even if he didn’t really fully understand Kryptonian culture.

Once his backpack was full he quickly went back to the barn. He changed into Clark Kent before he walked in. Cisco and Barry were expecting him, but they both did a double take before they looked at each other first.

“This is your secret identity?” Cisco asked in disbelief, “A pair of glasses? Please, please, please, tell me you aren’t serious!” At Clark’s sheepish farm boy shrug and looking down at his shuffling feet, Cisco face-palmed. “I will think of something.” Barry began to laugh softly and Cisco glared at him. “You can’t approve of this!”

Barry held up his hands. “Honestly with the posture shift and the attitude change I can see how he’s gotten away with it here. We were expecting Superman so we could see through it.” He smiled at Clark, “How long did it take for your friends to figure it out?”

Clark bit his lip as he thought back. “It took Lois a while since she didn’t really look at ‘Clark Kent’ much and she was a little in awe of Superman. Jimmy took less time. He figured it out before Lois, but only because he actually takes the pictures of me so he could see it.”

Barry nodded and held out his hand. “Well then, Clark Kent, it’s good to meet you.”

Clark chuckled and took his hand. “It’s good to meet you too, Barry Allen.”

Cisco clapped his hands together. “Okay, if everyone is ready? Let’s get this show on the road.”

Cisco stepped forward and concentrated on STAR Labs on his own Earth. It took a few seconds, and then the swirling vortex opened. Barry, with a quick, casual salute, jumped through first. Clark hesitated a second before he jump through, and Cisco followed after.

Being on other Earths while not uncomfortable, did make Cisco feel a little out of place. He was aware on an instinctual level that he was not in his own world, universe, multiverse, or whatever. Stepping back into the STAR Labs breach lab felt right, and he knew immediately he was home.

“Welcome to Earth 1.” Cisco said as he carefully clapped Clark’s shoulder this time as he walked by him. “Follow us and we’ll introduce you to Caitlin.”

“I’m going to run out and get some Big Belly burgers. Does anyone else want some?” Barry asked quickly. “I’m feeling a bit hungry.” He explained to Clark.

“Yeah, get some for everyone.” Cisco called over to him. “I need to eat before we try Earth 617.” He wasn’t really hungry after the pizza earlier, but he knew Caitlin was going to make him eat one of the protein bars she made for Barry if he didn’t have real food in front of him before she let him try to breach again.

Caitlin entered the room at a near run. “Not before I check you out, and see what opening that breach did to your vitals and other body functions!”

Cisco held up his hands. “That’s why we came here instead of jumping to Kara right away.”

Caitlin noticed the out of place looking man in jeans and a plaid shirt over a simple black t-shirt. “You must be Kal El.” She smiled warmly and held out her hand to him. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise ma’am,” Clack replied bashfully before taking her hand gently. “I actually go by Clark, Clark Kent.”

“Clark, then,” She smiled pleasantly. She turned to Cisco with her patient but concerned look. It meant she wanted to be sure he was fine so she could stop worrying about him hurting himself with his powers. “Go up to the medlab before you eat, please.” Looking at Barry she sighed. “Just get me a mini burger and a side salad please.”

Barry nodded and didn’t even smirk. He knew she watched her weight. She was always envious of the way he could eat anything and never have to worry about calories being too much. “Clark, can I get you anything?” He asked him as he checked his wallet for the STAR Labs credit card.

Clark laughed. “You didn’t happen to eat with Kara did you?”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Together we ate an insane amount of food.” He laughed softly. “Kara must have ordered from at least five different places and each was enough food to feed a family of six. By the time we left to go out, we’d ate all of it.”

“Yeah, would three large burgers with the works be a big deal?” He hadn’t thought about money. He imagined his wouldn’t be any good on their earth.

Barry shook his head. “No problem. Did you want the milkshake and fries too?”

Clark’s eyes glazed slightly at the thought of a milkshake. “Please, strawberry with whip cream?”

“Not a problem.” Barry chuckled as Caitlin groaned. She loved their shakes but limited herself to one a week. Today wasn’t her milkshake day.

Barry took off so fast that Clark barely saw him leave. He knew it had been too fast for the others and the papers flying everywhere surprised him.

“You don’t have paperweights or just do electronic files only around here?” Clark asked somewhat bewildered by the loose paper.

Caitlin looked at him with a smirk. “It’s one of the first indications that Barry’s here. It’s our Barry radar system. If the paper is flying he’s been here at least temporarily, and we need to get to our computers and comlinks to help him with whatever problem he has found.”

Cisco chortled loudly and ended trying to hide it in a cough incase Barry was around.

“For someone who is superfast he tends to be late… a lot!” He explained with a twitching smile on his face when he was sure Barry was actually still gone. Barry could sometimes be sensitive about always being late for work, dates, pretty much any important event in his life. As his best friend, Cisco tried not to make him feel bad about it when he could.

Clark couldn’t help but snort with laughter. The idea that the fastest guy in the world couldn’t get somewhere on time seemed the epitome of irony to him.

Barry was back five minutes later with enough Big Belly burgers for everyone. Caitlin was running her tests on Cisco. She had managed in that time to; isolate and verify that the hormonal imbalance she had identified previously was in fact there. It was the likely source of his powers, and it was easily managed. Like Barry’s increased metabolism due to his powers, Cisco’s would require a great deal of energy to open breaches, as long as he carried one of Barry’s power bars for emergencies she was happy to let him try going to Kara’s Earth, after he had a chance to digest his dinner for a bit first.

Cisco was actually feeling much better once he ate a burger. Big Belly burgers were well named. It still surprised him that tiny little Felicity Smoak had managed two in one sitting, along with a large milkshake and fries too. The things were huge! Easily a half pound of meat and toppings on a potato bread bun of yummy goodness.

He wasn’t surprised to see Barry eat five whole meals, and an extra two burgers. Clark also put down three meals himself, while Caitlin ate her mini burger and salad.

Talk during the meal was limited. Clark still looked excited and anxious. Not that anyone could blame him. Cisco himself was getting excited for him. Barry hadn’t spent a great deal of time with Kara, only a few hours, but they had shared a great deal of personal information in that limited space of time, even if most of it was superficial over all. Six hours was not much time in the scheme of things and they had spent some of that trying to see how much the two worlds were similar and different.

“So her Earth is completely different from ours, but yours and mine are quite alike.” Clark had asked to double check his facts, Barry nodded confidently.

“I’m thinking the changes are because the gods of Asgard are still alive, so the changes started as far back as the early ‘Middle Ages’ possibly earlier.” Barry told him his theory. “I spent a little time looking at the history books at the library. I was trying to see where and when the Gods of Asgard’s influence changed things after my return. After the invasion of the Normans of England, other than small raiding parties, the Vikings didn’t have much influence on history. The Greek Gods held much more sway with Greece and the Romans, and they kept the Viking Raiders in check, rather than allowing them to continue as they would have if their gods still existed.” He looked a little sheepish at sharing his conclusions. “Without a chance to compare more of the histories with Kara’s computer Brainiac, it’s just my personal speculation though.”

Clark nodded slowly. He could see that. The Greek Gods had a huge influence on both Greek and Roman histories; until Christianity had re-written many of the myths in the later 1500’s. The changes tales were meant to demonize the Norse and the Pagan Religions. “And the changes between our worlds are mainly due to things that happened because of me. Things like the backlash against powerful forms of energy being harnessed on my Earth, because of the supervillains that have popped up to fight me.”

Barry sat back and looked deep in thought for a long moment. “I think part of it is the fact that STAR Labs was being run by an evil genius from the future, here at least. His requirements to return to his future, helped to propel our world ahead of where we should be. Cold fusion was theory, but it was also being researched at STAR. The accelerator was sabotaged on purpose.” He looked towards the particle accelerator. “Thawne really needed the explosion to happen so he could create me. Without me he couldn’t go home to the future.”

Clark nodded thoughtfully but he’d been distracted by something else he had said. “You said her computer is named Brainiac?”

Barry nodded as he watched Clark tense up a little. “Yeah, the image he projected was Loki.” He looked down and away. “I’m not sure that was a very healthy thing for Kara to be doing, seeing him every day that way while she thought he was dead.”

Clark nodded, but at the same time he could understand it. She had literally seen her world explode before. Keeping a dead loved one close, even if it hurt in the long run, was a natural response. It wasn’t like she had anyone else to console her, at least as far as he knew.

Cisco finished his dinner and clapped his hands together. “Okay, since Caitlin wants me to wait a bit before I breach. I’m going to head home and pack a few clothes since I’m guessing we are going for a few days at least.”

In his mind he was thinking of all the questions he’d written down at home for Tony Stark. His list had been building for nearly a year. He also made a quick mental note to actually pack some clothes with all his tech gear. There was no way he was going without bringing his laptop and a few other devices for recording. He had a feeling his computers were going to be less advanced than those on Kara’s planet Earth, but darn it he was going to figure out as much as he could while he was there.

Barry had taken the time to gather a pack of clothes from home and left a note for Iris and Joe to let them know what was happening. He planned to call Iris before they headed out, but he’d wait until after Cisco got back so Caitlin didn’t make Clark uncomfortable with all the biological based alien questions he could see churning through her head. Unlike everyone else she was too polite to start asking them while Clark was eating.

When he noticed Clark was done. He sped through his final two burgers. Caitlin was about to open her mouth when Barry interrupted her by saying, “Hey Clark, how about I show you around STAR Labs, and introduce you to Gideon.”

“I was hoping to ask Clark a few questions.” Caitlin pouted at Barry.

Clark smiled at them both. “Perhaps we can do both? I can answer a few questions for Dr. Snow, and you can show me the AI?” He compromised. Clark didn’t know Caitlin well but he could guess how upset she would be if she didn’t get a few answers at the very least. He knew that Lois would be like a pit-bull with a prized bone in a similar situation.

Barry hid his expression from Caitlin, but Clark got the message. ‘I tried to save you man,’ was clear and Clark managed a small smile in return.

“Well great, how about we start with the tour and Caitlin can ask away while we walk.” Barry suggested. He blurred and cleaned up the mess from dinner and dumped it in the trash by the doorway.

Caitlin asked what he knew about his power. Where they came from? How his cells processed power? Could he get too low on power? Could he get too much?

Clark answered to the best of his ability, but it was clear to everyone that he hadn’t studied his powers like they had with Barry, Cisco, or any of the metahumans they had gone against. They were all surprised when he told them that he had bad reactions to a substance called kryptonate. The substance was radioactive pieces of his home planet that had landed with his ship in a meteor shower all over the Midwest of the US. So far he had seen mostly red and green kryptonate, and both had affected him differently.

“So red made you evil, and green depowers you?” Caitlin asked with a touch of curiosity and a hint on concern as she processed how the radiation must have been at different waves to cause the different reactions and colors. She also wondered why the radiation was so specific. Why it couldn’t be transferred from the crystalized rock pieces of his home planet to Earth-based crystals. Was there something special about his home planet?

Clark’s jaw clenched as he nodded. “I have seen other colors of kryptonate, but as you can imagine I have not allowed myself to touch, or be in its presence without a lead suit.”

In his fortress he had several of these other colored pieces of the rocks. He’d found some silver, black, orange and pink in the area around Smallville. That was where the majority of the meteors had landed and some had exploded on impact. Over seventy percent of the rocks found had been green. There had been a few different shades of blue too, and a few gems that looked like moving rainbow colors that swirled on a soap bubble, or oil slick. All of them were deeply buried in the ice in five feet thick lead lined chests that weighted thousands of pounds each. No one knew where Clark stored his Kryptonate. All anyone knew was whenever Superman encountered it, the crooks (or government agents) lost it, and it was never seen again. Everyone knew Superman was disposing of it, but no one even knew if it was on the planet, or been thrown into the sun.

“Of course not!” Caitlin exclaimed with a sense of horror. “No! Experimenting like that would be stupid and dangerous!” In her mind she was wondering what the other colors would do to him, but since red was emotional based there was no real way she could think of to test the other colors. They wouldn’t likely react under a microscope if it was emotion or mind based, but they might be able to at least tell him which was which. She was still rolling this over in her mind when Barry brought them to Gideon’s room.

“This is where we keep the AI from the future that I’m going to build someday.” Barry explained with a touch of incredibility in his voice. He hated talking time paradoxes. His whole existence, this entire timeline, and all timelines from his mother’s death were paradoxes thanks to Thawne; it made it complicated to think about. His mother’s death was a Flashpoint caused by the evil speedster, one that Barry still hadn’t completely decided if he was going to try and fix. Looking at the article and back at Superman, thinking of Kara and the Speedforce’s warning about accepting his mother’s death was the only thing holding him back at this point. A time paradox was also the reason he hadn’t tried to look at Gideon’s programing or inner workings, and he hadn’t allowed Cisco to either.

He activated the unlocking sequence on the room and the three walked in. Gideon activated and she smiled at Clark. “Hello, Kal El of Krypton, Founder and Leader of the Justice League.”

“The Justice League,” All three questioned together. They shared looks of surprise and then turned back to stared at Gideon awaiting an explanation.

Gideon’s face disappeared and a large text document replaced it. “Founded in 2017, The Justice League was a group of heroes from Earth 1 and Earth 38 who responded to galactic and large group of supervillains to keep their Earths safe. The core on Earth 38 were; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. On Earth 1 it was the leaders of their teams; The Flash, Green Arrow and White Canary. Both Earths leadership worked in concert with the help of their breachers Vibe and Kismat. Batman created the plans and Flash created the power source with help from Tony Stark to create a space station called “The Watchtowers” to oversee the two Earths. Both computers had the ability to speak to each other and co-ordinate threats due to the interdimensional extrapolators installed in each station. The interdimensional extrapolator also allows the teams to move from Earth to Earth without the breacher members. They were coded to the unique DNA of the League members.”

Barry stared even more gobsmacked then when he had first seen the article of his disappearance written by Iris Allen-West. “When did this happen? This wasn’t part of our history before was it?” He also wondered why Kara’s Earth wasn’t on the same network. “And who created the interdimensional extrapolator?”

“This possible time variation appeared forty-two years ago and solidified earlier today.” Gideon replied. “Cisco Ramon created the devices, in fact he is almost finished the first prototype at this time. It is perfected in less than a month from today’s date. Now that he can jump dimensions he will be able to configure it for specific Earths.”

Barry shook his head in amazement at Cisco’s genius with electronics and merging it with his abilities. He turned to Clark. “Do you know a Batman or Wonder Woman?”

Clark shook his head with a look of surprise as he stared at the picture that had the heroes lined up by their teams with Kara, Barry and Clark in the front and center of the picture. “I know there is a vigilante in Gotham that dresses as a bat, terrorizing the criminal underworld there. That must be Batman, but I have no idea who Wonder Woman is.”

“Wonder Woman’s alias is Diana Prince, a historian in Metropolis Museum of Natural History. She is the Princess of Themyscira, a race of hidden immortal warrior women.” Gideon added. “She also was instrumental in taking down a hidden traitor during World War I rumored to be called Aries after the God of War. Diana herself was quoted to have said he actual was an avatar of said God.” Gideon pulled up a picture of the woman grouped with a small squad of Allied Soldiers in a French town from World War I. The picture was old, grainy, and in black and white, but the woman was standing there in a fur cloak and very short armor. “She will reach out to you when you will need help on your own Earth. It is best to let her come to you.” Gideon advised. “Her race does not trust men who seek them out.”

Caitlin had been completely quiet as she had read the article and when she looked at the pictures of the future group she had been stunned to see herself as Killer Frost. She was standing behind Barry as part of the Earth 1 Justice League. “This isn’t possible!”

“What isn’t possible?” Barry asked somewhat surprised by her disbelief. “All this is possible because of Kara’s pod being set off course. It’s only changing our world now because we had contacted her original Earth, changing our own course in history.”

“Not that part, I know the impossible is quite likely possible now!” Caitlin shook her head and pointed to herself in the picture. “But that is Killer Frost, this says she is part of the Justice League, that’s the part that is impossible right now.”

Barry turned back and looked and recalled ‘Lady Frost’ from the article before. “That’s Lady Frost. I think she’s from a different Earth.” He speculated.

“That is incorrect, Creator.” Gideon interrupted. “Lady Frost is Dr. Caitlin Snow of Earth 1.”

“I’m not a metahuman!” Caitlin exclaimed fearfully. “I wasn’t changed during the explosion. I’ve checked! I have none of the markers of damaged or altered DNA. It’s the same as it was when I was first brought into the facility. I was also in one of the few areas of the building that wasn’t sheltered against any effects of the explosion. I was right next to Cisco near one of the Pipeline doorways. If it was possible I would have changed already.”

“I don’t know.” Barry admitted slowly, he was as shocked as Caitlin was that she might have powers, especially powers that couldn’t be linked to the Accelerator accident. “Maybe you’ll gain your abilities later, like Cisco did. Maybe there was something about being that close to the explosion, and the power from it being pushed up and out of the building instead of outward through it?”

Caitlin shook her head again. “No, it’s not possible. I have checked for latent abilities, since Killer Frost from Earth 2 was identified. I wanted to see if I would have her powers, and I don’t!”

“Creator, Dr. Snow is correct. She is not a metahuman in the sense of being effected by the explosion caused by Eobard.” Gideon told them. “In the original timeline of yesterday, she never learned to unlock the abilities. It seems events will lead to her learning how to safely unlock her powers.”

Caitlin stared at the computer in shock. “I think I need to lie down.” She turned to leave quickly, but Barry stopped her.

“Caitlin, we will figure this out. You don’t need to worry.” He told her as sincerely as he could. “If this is right, you aren’t a killer. You’re a hero like the rest of us.” He tried to smile reassuringly but it was a little forced. Caitlin appreciated the gesture and patted his arm.

“Thank you, Barry.” She tried to smile back, but hers was forced too, and a little brittle. She took his words to heart though and realized that he was right. Lady Frost was a member of a hero organization. It helped to lessen the shock, but she still wanted a few minutes to herself. It wasn’t every day that she learned someone was born with metahuman abilities, even before being exposed like she had been in the partial accelerator explosion.

Clark cleared his throat. “We keep getting off track.”

Barry gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but a lot has changed around here for us in the past twenty-four hours too.” Clark nodded with a sheepish grin back. He was just on edge waiting to meet his cousin. “Hey Gideon, do you have any information on Krypton and Asgard?” Barry asked her.

“I have extensive information on both.” Gideon answered.

Clark and Barry shared a surprised look before both turned to the computer. “What can you tell me about pre-Kryptonian history as it relates to Asgard?”

“The Planet Krypton was a construct. The entire solar system was a gift of the last of the Dwarf Lords after Ragnarök to the new race of Kryptonians.” Gideon replied. “All other knowledge is restricted to the Time Masters and authorized users.”

Clark took a deep breath and he closed his eyes and took in that information. “So the Kryptonians were the survivors of the Nine Realms.”

“All inhabitance of the Rao System were gifted the solar system by the Dwarf Lords.” was the A.I’s response.

Clark rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Why is it such a secret?”

“You have access to Asgard. There is only a few on the planet who can be trusted with such information. If any others were to learn the truth, all Kryptons in the Multiverses would be in danger of either never existing, or being destroyed by the enemies of Asgard, or any other more powerful being.” Gideon replied. “The Dwarf Lords broke many treaties and committed an offence against several Celestials by creating the Rao System. Those treaties were with other races outside the Nine. Many did not wish to continue trading with the remains of the Nine. If the Celestials decide to take offence then the information could possibly leak to other multiverses, and endanger those that have managed to survive. It is unlikely that every Krypton has exploded in every multiverse.”

Barry and Clark both stared opened mouthed at the comment. “So we could end up destroying the multiverse if this information became public knowledge?” Barry gasped the shock nearly physically staggered him.

“Not all multiverses, but a portion of them likely have a version of Krypton in which they are the stabilizing force. It is also likely that in every version of Ragnarök where Loptr’s forces won, the Dwarf Lords will decide to create a system for the survivors. In most of those multiverses they succeed in creating the system. Only those multiverses without the Rao System would be unaffected.” Gideon admitted. “It is a known equation in this multiverse and steps have been taken to eliminate this variable to save multiverses where Krypton exists, or did exist.”

Clark and Barry once more shared a concerned look. “Who is the biggest threat known to be?”

“That is unquantifiable.” Gideon replied. “There are five known entities that would embark on a mission to see the end of all Kryptons. All of them just as deadly as the next, and only two of them are capable of reaching through the multiverse. There are likely others who would also embark on this quest if they learned the true nature of the planet and its inhabitants. They would seek out those like Cisco Ramon who are able to breach the divide, and harness them for conquest.”

“Okay I think we should stop looking into this.” Barry told Clark uneasily. “Your Krypton was destroyed anyway. Let’s not endanger the ones in other multiverses that did survive.”

Clark gave him an uneasy nod. “Yeah,” He replied quietly. “Let’s just forget this.” It now made sense why it was such a secret.

“That was the reason the information was restricted to the Time Masters in the first place.” Gideon replied.

“Why did you give us the information then Gideon?” Barry couldn’t help but ask.

“Creator, I was allowed to give you this much information because you are the first Time Master.” Gideon explained. “And it was decided the release of this information if it was ever requested by you. The future you decided that this was the best way to stop you from looking any further into the information.”

Barry looked ready to start banging his head against the wall. Clark couldn’t help but chuckle to help alleviate his nerves. “You ask too many questions Barry Allen. And your future self seems to know exactly what you needed to know.”

Barry snorted and looked over at Clark, “This coming from a reporter?”

“Touché,” Clark snorted softly before his face slipped back into a seriously worried expression. “We need to keep this to ourselves obviously.”

“Agreed,” Barry told him as he nodded emphatically. “And explain it to Kara if she doesn’t already know, as her Earth hasn’t had Ragnarök yet.”

They both stood there not knowing what to say for a moment before Barry turned to Gideon. “Can you give us a picture and bio of all The Avengers and The Justice League?” The printer immediately began to print off the requested information.

“Supergirl, Loki and Thor are not considered to be Avengers.” Gideon told him. “Would you like their bios as well?”

Barry was glad the AI was so smart and knew what he had meant rather than to just give him what he had asked for. “That would be great.”

“Printing the bios of The Avengers, The Justice League and The Asgard Royals,” The female voice responded and several more sheets appeared. The Asgard Royals and The Avenger s bios were actually SHIELD profiles, with Top Secret stamps in the left hand corner and SHIELD logo at the top of each file. The Justice League had personal files from their own database it seemed, as they were labeled Watchtower personnel files.

Clark was most curious about Kara’s abilities and began to read over her bio. Like he had expected she had the same abilities. Kara possessed virtually unlimited superhuman strength, speed, and stamina. She was invulnerable. She could fly at speeds ranging from hovering to above super-sonic by controlling her gravitational forces. She had the freeze breath. Her vision seemed to be the same as his with; x-ray, telescopic, microscopic, and heat vision. While not listed he imagined she also had superhearing. Likely she hadn’t let on how good her hearing was to this SHILED Agency.

The bio also made note that Kara could not be harmed through physical force alone and has endured the shockwave created by the collapsing planet, and the forces involved in travelling through the wormhole that lead to Earth 617. It listed her susceptibility to magic as a weakness. It didn’t mention kryptonite at all, or the fact that her powers came from sunlight, or more specifically yellow sunlight. Clark made a mental note to warn her about kryptonite before she visited his Earth, and red sunlight like Rao’s star.

Barry watched Clark as he read over his cousin’s bio. “Are they all there?” He asked, knowing what Clark was looking at.

Clark nodded slowly. “Yes, we seem to have the same powers.” He was looking at the pictures of Kara and was amazed at the strength she was displaying. One picture made him shake his head. He doubted he could lift that much weight, never mind control the landing of something that big! “I think she might be stronger than me though.” He showed the print out to Barry.

Barry looked at the report and his eyes bugged out. He shared a look with Clark and trashed the bio. “Let’s not mention that one.”

Clark nodded slowly. It was best if no one knew what she was capable of doing. There was a picture with the bio taken from a great distance, but her outfit was different from what she usually wore, so it was likely a future event. “Yeah, talking about the future like it has already happened would be bad right?” Clark was new to the ‘time travel is real’ club, but he figured if anyone would know ‘the rules’ it would be Barry.

His Barry, for his part, felt a little weight add to his soul. It was one more strike against going back in time to save his mother. Clark’s innocent question made him question the validity of his reasons for considering going back again. “Yeah, playing with time is always a bad thing. The future isn’t set in stone, until to happens, only then do events set in the timeline like cement. It takes a bit of time but once set, that arranges and lines up future events too.”

“But it is possible to go back and change it?” Clark questioned him. Thawne had obviously done it.

“Yes, but it creates a new timeline if events change the outcome of an event.” Barry sighed dejectedly. “The Butterfly Effect basically.” Clark nodded knowingly. “I could go back and live in the past with my mother alive, but I wouldn’t be in my child body. In the end I would be in a different timeline. I don’t even know if I could come back to this one.” Barry explained. Clark nodded again, that tracked with what he knew of the multiverse theory.

They looked over the other bios in silence. Clark was amazed at the abilities of some of the Avengers. They seemed to be balanced enough to do any job and a wide range of abilities, especially when The Asgardian Royals were added to the mix. The Avengers themselves were actual humans, with the exception of The Hulk, but even his base form was human.

Anytime The Avengers had needed a heavy hitter to join them, Kara, Loki and occasionally Thor would join them in taking down the bad guys according to the bios. Clark and Barry took note that at this time there were members of the Avengers team that were not yet part of the group. Falcon, Scarlet Witch, and Spiderman to name a few, they were not on the list as active members of The Avengers until two to five years from today’s date.

“That’s a pretty impressive group of heroes.” Clark said quietly a few minutes later. Like Barry he could read much faster than most humans. Their range of skills was amazing. Barry was actually looking forward to meeting Hawkeye to see if he was better than Oliver.

Barry agreed. “Yeah, makes creating the Justice League a bit more daunting doesn’t it.” He smirked with a chuckle.

Clark barked out with a surprised laugh. He’d been thinking the same thing. On his own Earth he only knew of himself and now Wonder Woman who were ‘super-powered’. Batman was human, but seemed to be the Tony Stark of his Earth; rich and able to build equipment to make up for his lack of powers. There wasn’t anyone else he knew of on his Earth. “It seems we’ll have to recruit heroes to our side.”

Barry laughed and grinned widely. “I think I have more choice here. Metas are crawling out of the woodwork on my Earth. Not just in Central City, but all over the United States now.” He added a bit more seriously. “Plus, I know the team White Canary is leading.”

Clark very gently clapped Barry’s shoulder. “I know I have just met you, but I have a good feeling about you Barry. I think you are going to be a great leader for your side of the Justice League once we get this up and going.” Clark told him confidently.

Barry blushed, but was saved from having to reply by Gideon. “Mr. Ramon has returned and is heading to the breach room.”

Barry took a breath and gestured to Clark to leave the room first. “Let’s go see your cousin.”

Clark chuckled a little nervously but nodded. Together they turned to walk towards the room. Each keeping in step with the other, each step though they sped up. Like Kara, Clark was able to keep step with Barry and less than a second later they were both in the Breach room laughing at the mini ‘speed-walking race’ they had had to burn off a bit of nervous energy.

Cisco frowned at them both. “It sucks that you both are so fast.”

“But we can’t do any of this without you, Cisco.” Barry reminded him with a smile. Barry knew Cisco wanted to be an active member of Team Flash, but his tech skills were too useful to risk him against everyday villains, and he hadn’t mastered using his powers offensively yet.

“Ok, here ~~it~~ goes.” Cisco concentrated on Kara, Earth 617, and the picture of her and Loki. He pictured the vibration of the Earth they were on. Immediately he knew something was wrong.

“It’s not working.” Cisco said as he screwed up his face in concentration. “I’m going to try again.” He held his hand out and concentrated extra hard on each step. He felt the connection to Earth 617 start, but when he focused on Kara the connection snapped.

He lowered his hand. “I can’t get a fix on Kara.” He admitted.

Barry looked concerned. “Maybe try Tony?” He held out the Iron Man bio with Tony’s face at the top.

Cisco took the bio and looked hard at Tony’s face and then tried again. This time the portal immediately took shape. “Ok that worked.”

“Great.” Barry said smiling. “I’ll go first, then Clark, than you Cisco.”

“Guys, just be careful, please.” Caitlin called from the doorway.

“We will.” Barry called back before he jumped through.

Clark took a deep breath and went to jump through only for the event horizon to shimmer and bounce him back across the room.

“What the-” Cisco lost his concentration and the portal closed. “Opps… shit I-” It took him a second to re-open the portal and Clark stood up slowly.

“Let me see if I can do that again.” Clark said quietly. He walked slowly as Cisco muttered about taking it slow. It was low and if he did have superhearing he’d have never made out the words. He slowly pressed his fingers against the horizon and felt it push him back gently this time.

 _Where she went, you cannot follow_. The words were whispered in his head. The whisper sounded like multiple voices hissing in unison. _But she can come to the Island you stand upon, though she cannot follow you home_.

Clark took a step back. “I can’t go.” His voice dripped with disappointment. “Something will not allow me to pass.”

Cisco looked to the portal. “I have to go get Barry back then.” He felt horrible for Clark. He was torn between staying and comforting him, and going after his best friend.

Caitlin solved his dilemma by coming forward and giving Clark a supportive touch on his arm to remind him that he wasn’t alone.

Clark nodded slowly. “The voices said Kara could come here, but I can’t go to her Earth, and she can’t go to mine.”

Cisco looked uneasy by the statement. “What voices?”

“I think it might be the Time Masters bosses.” Clark replied with a sick looking smile.

Cisco, who had not been there for any of the conversation with Gideon and Barry, decided to just leave well enough alone for now. “Ok well, I’ll just go get her then.”

“Let Barry know what is going on, but don’t come back without Kara.” Caitlin ordered with a soft smile to Clark. “I think we have stressed out our guest enough.”

“Okay, I’m going then.” Cisco took one last look then jumped through the breach.


	3. Collecting Kara

**Part 4 - Arrowverse comes knocking – Ch 3 – Collecting Kara**

Barry had come out in Tony’s living room at the Malibu estate. His sudden appearance had startled a brown haired woman who had been carrying three cups of coffee, and a red head who was talking to Tony Stark by the piano.

“Oh hi,” Barry said quickly. “Sorry, if I scared you. We don’t have a way of making a call first to let you know we are coming yet.”

Tony blinked for a second before he recognized the intruder. He was just in time because Darcy who was behind the red speedster. She had placed the coffee down on the bar and was reaching for the Stark-Enhanced Tazer gun in her back pocket, “Speedy Gonzales! Long time no see.” He greeted the man with a wave of his hand.

Barry looked behind him as the breach closed. “What the-” He turned back to Tony. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. Kara’s cousin Kal El was supposed to come out behind me with my friend Cisco.”

Tony whistled as Darcy leaped forward and grabbed Barry’s arm as she half turned him to look at her. “You found him?” She squealed excitedly. “What took you so long?”

“We kinda had to create the ability to go where we wanted to go first.” Barry reminded her. “As it is we aren’t using isn’t tech this time. My buddy Cisco is a metahuman that can open the breaches.”

“Kara isn’t on Earth at the moment.” The red head answered as Barry had quickly looked around the room for any sign of Kara.

Barry’s face fell. “Oh, I guess that makes sense. Cisco couldn’t get a fix on her, so we used Tony as an anchor point.”

The breach reopened behind him and Barry relaxed a bit. The all watched the surface for a moment before Darcy stage whispered. “What are we waiting for?”

“Kal El or Cisco,” Barry replied just as Cisco walked through.

“Man you are not going to believe what happened on the other side, but oh wow what a view.” He said with a cocky grin as he took in Darcy’s tight outfit and huge breasts.

Tony rolled his eyes dramatically while Darcy giggled, and Pepper refrained from smirking, but her eyes danced with mirth.

“So where is the cousin from space?” Tony asked loudly, catching Cisco’s attention.

He turned his leering stare to a fanboy crazed glazed look of adoration in a microsecond. “Tony Stark! I am so honored to meet you.” He walked forward as if to shake Tony’s hand, but Tony stopped him with a stare and his hands held up defensively.

“Ok Goggle Boy, no touching on the first date and, and I asked a question.” Tony answered sternly.

“Oh right, Clark can’t come here. We have to get Kara and go back to Earth 1. Something won’t let them go to each other’s Earths.” Cisco replied a little crestfallen that he didn’t get to shake Tony’s hand.

“Kara’s not on Earth right now.” Barry caught Cisco up on the facts as he knew them.

“Well that’s not good. Caitlin said not to come back without her.” Cisco replied with a slightly worried warble in his voice.

“It’s no problem. We can send a message to her. We just got to yell out for Heimdall.” Darcy explained to them. “Asgard’s guardian gatekeeper will get the message and pass it on to her. We just won’t get a reply.”

“I’ll do it.” Tony replied and he quickly strolled towards the front door to the front lawn. Once there he looked up with a smirk.

“Hey Heineken, Can you tell Blue that Speedy Gonzales is here with another friend? They delivered her message in a bottle and have a reply.” He gave the sky a quick salute and walked back inside.

Darcy was smiling. “That should get her off her ass and down here as fast as she can. But it still could take a few hours.” She warned the others.

Cisco sighed and ran his hand over his head and through his hair. “I’ll go back and let Clark know so they aren’t sitting around wondering what is going on.”

Barry nodded slowly. “I’ll wait here and explain what has been happening on our side to these guys.”

“Ok.” Cisco agreed before he gave Darcy a huge smile. “It was lovely to meet you.” He emphasized with a wiggle of his eyebrows to her.

Darcy giggled. “I’ll see you soon then, Cisco.”

Barry remembered what Gideon had said. “Oh hey, while you are waiting. Can you see if you can get the interdimensional extrapolator working?”

Tony’s head wiped around. “You’re building an interdimensional extrapolator?” He was amazed that such a thing was even possible. Goggle Boy had promise!

Cisco just looked stunned. “Ah yeah,” He turned to Barry, “How did you know about that?” He was confused about how his most top-secret project was known to Barry. He’d been careful to keep the device in a draw when anyone else was around. Even Wells had no idea he was working on it.

“Gideon let the cat out of the bag.” Barry admitted. “She said it was almost done.”

Cisco nodded with a bit of a scowl. “Yeah, but it only works for Earth 2 to ours right now. I wanted to perfect being able to call any Earth we pre-programed into it before I gave one to Kara.” He’d wanted it to be a surprise, but that was now out the window.

“We could really use one right now.” Barry replied with a look of hope. If anyone could make something in the time crunch it would be Cisco. “I have no idea when to ask you to return.”

“I’d say at least six hours.” Pepper spoke up. “It takes a few hours to charge her pendent and the travel between Realms can take a random amount of time. Sometimes it’s instant and other times it could be an hour.”

“Ok, I’ll come back after about six hours.” Cisco said he before he opened the portal and jumped back through.

Barry turned to everyone else and took off his cowl. “So what’s been happening on this Earth since the last time I was here?”

With that invitation Darcy started talking, with a bit of commentary from Stark. Barry’s eyes were wide and he even gasped at certain spots of the story. As unbelievable as his own life was, he was still surprised by the events they had lived through. He should have known better that to think that their lives weren’t as stressful as his own. The only thing that hadn’t surprised him was learning Loki was alive. Learning Loki had led the attack, and nearly killed Kara, that had Barry worrying about her.

At the end of the tale Barry was slightly shell-shocked. “I guess I should have been expecting some shocks, but somehow I wasn’t expecting that much drama. I mean seriously, an alien invasion held off by seven people!”

“Tell me about it, Dude.” Darcy sighed dramatically as she threw herself backward onto the couch in the middle of the room. “I had to babysit Janie while she was in a meltdown because Thor hadn’t called and there he was, fighting aliens live on TV! We didn’t even know he could come back since he doesn’t have magic of his own.”

Barry stared out the window towards the Pacific Ocean as he let his thoughts drift. Darcy’s story had been very good. Tony had even had JARVIS bring up some of the TV footage for him to see the clips from the battle. With his speed he took in more action in one pass than the others.

He had been staring out over the ocean for about five seconds when there seemed to be a twinkle on the horizon and then a small flying Viking ship suddenly came speeding right at the glass wall.

Barry saw the dark hair pilot pull back on the rudder of the ship and the tip of the boat pulled up and the ship went over the top of the house. Behind him the others yelled and dived for the floor. He turned and looked at them a bit bewildered. “What? What’s wrong?”

Darcy glared up at him. “Did you not see the thing flying at the window?”

Barry nodded with a huge grin. “It’s Kara and Loki. I saw him steer it over the house.” He wasn’t sure but he thought Kara might have helped a little on the pull up to clear the house.

Pepper glared as she stood from behind the sofa she’d dived behind. “It looked like they were going to come through the window.”

Kara walked in the front door and saved Barry from having to answer, “Next time pull up a little sooner.” She was growling at Loki as they entered the room. “Even I wasn’t sure you were going to clear the roofline.” Barry nearly smirked at his guess being right about Kara helping them over the house.

“I have been piloting my ships for over four hundred years. I do know its capabilities.” Loki sniffed dismissively at her lack of faith in his abilities to fly a simple skiff.

Kara shook her head and glanced around at everyone but her eyes zeroed in on Barry. “You’re here!” She gasped and raced forward to hug him. “You actually found him and came back!” Her hair clouded his vision as she threw herself, somewhat carefully at him.

Barry chuckled and hugged her back just as fiercely. “I promised didn’t I?”

Kara pulled back just enough to look at him with a bright smile and then she hugged him again. “I just don’t know how to thank you enough.”

Barry laughed lightly. “Sorry it took so long.” He whispered as she pulled back again.

Kara waved his apology off. “You managed something I can’t. I am in no way going to so ungrateful as to be upset about the time you needed to do it.” Honestly only Loki possibly could do such a thing, but with the warnings not to do that in all his magical training, Kara never would ask it of him.

Barry chuckled and threw his arm around her shoulders. “Well, we were going to surprise you and bring him with us, but there is some kind of barrier over the portal. It won’t allow him to come to this Earth.”

Kara looked surprised and turned to look at Loki to see if he knew what they meant but his expression was blank. She couldn’t even guess what he was thinking when he did that. “It allowed you through, but not him?” She asked somewhat concerned about if she’d be able to go there to see Kal El.

“Are you going to say hi to the rest of us, Dudette?” Darcy cut in dryly.

Kara turned and looked at everyone standing around. She brought her hand to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh Rao, I’m being so rude.”

She turned back to see Tony handing Loki a drink. Loki took it, but he was looking at Tony with questioning eyes. “I owe you a drink.” Tony lifted his own in a ‘cheers’ gesture and downed his.

Kara rolled her eyes and began introductions. “Barry, this is Pepper Potts, she was the woman who arranged for us to go to the museum last time you were here.” Pepper smiled widely and stepped forward with her hand extended to shake Barry’s.

“We met while waiting for you, but it is a pleasure to officially meet you.” Barry said as he took it Pepper’s hand and shook it professionally.

“Likely wise, Barry,” She smiled politely.

Kara waved toward the Dark hair woman who had told the amazing tale of the invasion. “This is Darcy Lewis. She was the voice you heard over your comm when you first arrived.” Kara continued.

Darcy smirked as she took Barry’s hand. “You are so much prettier than your voice. Too bad you’re taken.”

Barry stuttered a bashful, “Ah, thank you?” he replied questioningly.

“Bad girl, down girl,” Kara snapped playful at Darcy.

Darcy snorted and gave her a two-fisted middle finger salute. “You had your chance, and you blew mine too by not bringing him back here.” She snarked at her, but she was actually watching Loki’s reaction over Kara’s shoulder. It was subtle but his reaction was what she was hoping for. Bad Boy Mischief seemed to like Supes in a “more than brotherly fashion” if the stiffening in his spine meant what she hoped it did.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Like I would bring anyone single and sweet anywhere near you, you lecherous barracuda!”

Darcy cackled but winked at Barry, “I’m not that bad. I’m just flirty.”

Tony snorted playfully. “There is a reason I call you Betty Boop.”

“Oh thank god, I thought that was your name at first.” Barry replied trying to regain some mental footing.

“You’re welcome.” Loki piped up playfully. Everyone turned to him. “What? He thanked god, and as the only god in the room I felt it would be bad manners to ignore him.”

Kara and Darcy laughed while everyone else had differing levels of surprise and amusement. “And what am I?” Kara asked playfully.

Loki smirked. “Last time I checked you are still female Kara, that makes you a goddess, he thanked a god.” He answered while Tony rolled his eyes hard. Pepper hid a giggle and elbowed Tony to stop him from rolling his eyes so far back. Kara shook her head but laughed too.

“And everyone, except Tony, this is Loki of Asgard.” Kara moved to stand beside him and faced everyone else with an excited smile on her face. “Loki these are my Midgardian friends and of course Barry Allen, my friend from Earth 1, who has found Kal El.”

Loki took a few long strides forward, and at six foot two seemed to tower over Barry’s six foot frame. Both were slight in build. Thin, but muscular, and both were built for endurance, and both were athletic in their movements. While Barry was older development-wise, the past year had been hard on Loki. He looked older than the boyish seventeen that he had looked a year ago. Standing side-by-side Barry’s childish baby-face made them look the same age, of about twenty-four. It was only now seeing them side-by-side that Kara could see any resemblance between them. Barry was smiling brightly however, making Loki’s intimidating stance useless. It confused Loki to not have a mortal trying to back out of his personal space. Instead Barry took his arm and held it in a warrior acceptance clasp Kara had taught him last time he was there.

Off to the side, Tony smirked. While he knew it wasn’t really Loki that had thrown him out his window, he was still wary of the man, god, whatever he was. Tony felt a bit of satisfaction at Barry’s lack of fear when Loki was trying to be intimidating, and he was loving the confusion on Loki’s face.

“It’s great to meet you. Kara told me a lot about you. I was so happy to hear you were back before I got here. I didn’t want to have to tell Kara you were alive, but still missing.” Barry told him as he continued to hold Loki’s arm.

Loki looked down at the mortal confused and suddenly very suspicious. “How would you have known I was alive?”

“Ah long story,” Barry admitted softly. “One of my powers is time travel, and an evil speedster from the future brought an AI used to fight time pirates from the future to our timeline twelve years ago. It has this article from 2024. It used to say I would go missing in a crisis, but now it talks about an alliance of heroes that saved Earth 1, and you were included as one of the Asgard Royals, along with Kara and Thor.”

Loki dropped his arm and stepped back. “I see.” His brows furrowed. Time travel was one of the few things even he was not stupid enough to play with. He also wasn’t opposed to teaming up with Thor and Kara, but knowing they would be a team in and of themselves was a bit hard to swallow at the moment. He hadn’t forgiven Thor for his actions as of yet. “That is a very dangerous gift. One the galaxy is not known to allow if abused.” He warned. His tone was as serious as Kara had ever heard it. The power of his statement seemed to carry and make everyone shiver at the implications, even if they didn’t fully understand them.

Kara looked worried as she came over and took Loki’s hand in hers for comfort. “Time travel is one of the forbidden topics of magic.” She explained with an edge of concern and fear in her voice. “As an Arch-Mage, Loki would know more about it than I do. You need to be very careful if you use this ability to not change the past. The future is not written, but changing the past is never allowed, and will be resisted, sometimes with lethal force.”

Barry looked down at his feet. “I didn’t change the past. I maintained it. The evil speedster Thawne tried to change it and it ended with him being erased from the timeline... Sort of…”

Loki glared at him harshly as he took in what that meant. “Earth 1 is a paradox!” He turned to Kara. “His entire Multiverse is in flux. No wonder he can jump Multiverses. His is not in parallel with any other. In fact they have created a separate timeline, their multiverse is split in at least two!”

“Is that dangerous for him?” Kara asked deeply concerned that asking Barry to carry her message might have hurt him.

“No, but that is why your cousin can’t come here, we are not in a paradox. The only link to his Midgard would be through him. If Tony were to make a device that could jump to any Earth in existence, it would still be unlikely go to his Earth 1 even if that was the intent.” Loki explained with an air of uncertainly, but he was deeply concerned.

There were deep consequences for those that played with Time. Only the Time Stone was exempt from the wraith of Time and the Celestials. It was the only way one could play with the timeline and not have to worry about the Universe creating paradoxes that could wipe out the existence of the person playing with it.

Barry could see Loki was unsure of his conclusion. “Yeah, the change to this timeline by Kara entering it was ‘authorized’ was the phrase Gideon used.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “How would your ‘Gideon’ know that?”

“She was designed to be used by a group known as the Time Masters. They make sure to maintain the timeline from anyone who tried to change time.” Barry added carefully. He’d picked up on Loki extreme unease. “She receives updates from her time, but remembers the original timeline as well.”

Pepper put her hand to her head as she sat down heavily. Darcy stared at Barry in awe. Tony knew most of this but it still made him uncomfortable knowing time travel was actually possible. It was one of those things he never wanted to even look into.

Loki was floored by the amount of time paradoxes that had been allowed to be created on Earth 1. According to his own studies, not only should the Earth 1 multiverse no longer exist, it should have unraveled and taken several others with it when the Universe tried to right itself.

“What of your own Earth? Have the changes been authorized too?” Loki managed to ask while seeming to be much calmer than he actually was. Only Kara could hear his heart racing with worry and fear. Very few things could alarm Loki as much as this topic. His reaction was taking Kara’s enthusiasm for going to Barry’s Earth. She desperately wanted to see Kal El, but she understood Loki’s apprehension in offending _The Norns_ , or any of the other major powers in the galaxy.

Barry looked uncomfortable. “A Time Master, Captain Rip Hunter came and collected a few friends of mine and they are trying to repair large portions of the Timeline.”

Loki took several deep breathes. “A Time Master?” he questioned, “And who gave him the authority to change the past?”

Barry looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know much about it. The Legends were expendable heroes in my time. I wasn’t, so he never asked me to go, or even meet with him. I only know what Gideon told me about him. She is installed on his Time Ship called The Waverider, which goes and stops time pirates.”

Loki closed his eyes and the tension he was feeling could be seen clearly by everyone now. “So in summary; in the future, your planet is in violation of every rule of Time in existence, and your Universe still manages to move forward, against all Laws of known Time and Space, because people have learned how to slip through time at will, and no longer require powers that are monitored with laws that are enforced by the gods, celestial, and the beyond beings.”

“My powers might be, but that is because my powers are through the Speedforce and the Time Wraiths maintain my compliance-” Barry let his voice trail off before he decided to take another tact. “We also don’t have gods or celestials that I know of.”

Loki shut his eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was desperately trying to stop the instant migraine that had developed at the amount of laws that were being broken. Laws even he, a god of mischief and magic had never contemplated playing with. Just because the humans had no idea if the gods or celestials existed, it didn’t mean they weren’t there. It was just a mystery as to why humans had been left unchecked.

“Stop please! I am well aware of the consequences of playing with time.” He replied curtly, cutting Barry off. Everything about this situation was puzzling and very worrying. There were very few ways mortals could play with time. The time stream physically existed in the Quantum Realm, something that humans were not aware of as far as he knew. Magic could access that Realm, but it was not without its own problems. It also was a guaranteed way to come to the attention of those that it was suggested that mages not draw the attention of, such as The Lord of Chaos Dormammu. Even as a God of Mischief, which was an Aspect of Chaos, Loki had no intention of ever gaining the attentions of such a being if he could avoid it.

Barry bit his lip slightly as he looked towards Kara. She was looking at Loki with concern. “Are we going to be ok going to Barry’s Earth to meet Kal El?” She asked apprehensively.

Loki sighed deeply. “I am going to assume that there is an entity still overseeing their Earth, because otherwise Kal El would have been able to come through.” He told her seriously, but he was deeply troubled and it showed in his eyes. “If this being decides that you cannot come back here, you could be cursed through the Multiverse by _The Norns_ for a failure to live up to your destiny that they have provided for you.” He warned her.

Kara sucked in a deep breath audibly. _The Norns_ were real beings of such power that they were feared by all who truly knew of them. On Asgard they were not myths or legends. The people of the Nine and beyond knew they were real beings. Beings that were known to be vindictive and cruel when crossed. They were The Fates of myth, even on Midgard.

She blew out the breath heavily. “I am going to assume if _The Norns_ do not wish for me to visit my cousin that they would not allow me to pass through the portal to Earth 1.” She paused knowing that if they were listening they would know her next words were true. “I will not attempt to pass onto Earth 38. I have the feeling that will not be allowed either, so I will not even attempt it.” Her promise was as much for _The Norns_ as it was for Loki. He seemed as agitated and frightened as Kara had ever seen him.

Tony as always seemed to feel the need to break the tension that had developed and clapped his hands together loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “So now that that’s settled, where’s Hammer Time?”

“He was about to put together a campaign for quelling a few rebellions,” Kara told him with a smirk. She was grateful for snarky change of conversation.

Loki rubbed his temples trying to release some of the pain in his head from the conversation he’d just had. “I could really use a very stiff drink now if you do not mind.”

Tony smirked and pointed at him. “You are going to get the cheap shit since you threw me out a window after I last offered you a drink.” Loki raised a brow at him. “Next time I’ll give you the better stuff.”

Loki nodded with acceptance. “I suppose that is fair. It’s can’t be worse than Thor’s attempt at ale.”

Loki drifted over to the bar as Kara poked Barry in the arm. “What is he like?”

Barry smiled and gestured for Kara to sit next to a still silent Darcy. “Well he landed on Earth as a baby and was raised as a human. His adopted parents hid his powers and he developed them over time, much slower than you did.” Barry told her. “He goes by Clark Kent, and he’s a reporter with The Daily Planet, a newspaper that is in both his Earth and mine. His Earth looks to be about ten years behind mine technologically wise. More once we get the Stark Reactor working.”

Kara took in his words. Everyone was paying attention, even Tony and Loki who were a little apart from them. Tony was watching Loki. He seemed tense and irritated by Barry. Tony smirked to himself. Watching Loki try to control his jealousy was going to be a hoot.

“He is also a superhero with the same powers, and same colors. He wears the house symbol on his chest too.” Barry chuckled. “And he earned the nickname Superman.”

“Of course he did,” Loki snorted from the bar as he took a long pull from the tumbler of whiskey Tony had poured him, “Mortals are so unimaginative.”

Barry looked at Kara a little concerned with Loki’s attitude. From her stories he had expected Loki to much more approachable. So far he had the impression that Loki didn’t like him, and he was sure it wasn’t just the time travel ability he had, and hadn’t abused so far.

Kara gave Loki a warning look from where she had sat down on the couch near Darcy. He held up both hands in gesture of mock surrender, making the ice in his glass tinkle and swirl in the amber alcohol.

Pepper who had been watching everything decided to clear the room of all the extra people. “Perhaps we should let Kara and Barry catch-up, Darcy.” She said with a polite smile. “I have a few things I would like to pass on to you to deal with, if you don’t mind?”

Darcy’s head whipped around. She was torn. She wanted to stay for Kara, but it was Pepper Potts her idol that was asking for her help. She also knew what Pepper was doing, so she waited for Kara to give her a tiny nod before she bounced herself to her feet. “Ok, but I want a call when portal boy comes back.” She told Kara with a fierce frown and pointy finger in her face.

Kara nodded with a lopsided grin. “Would I stand between you and a single guy you wanted?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “In a heartbeat if he’s tall, dark, climbable, and sexy as all get out!” She said with a chin point towards Loki.

“Darcy!” Pepper cried out, her tone suggested she was scandalized, but anyone who dealt with Tony’s issues as much as Pepper had in the past wouldn’t be fazed by Darcy Lewis when she was being tame. “It’s time to go, NOW!”

Darcy bounded over and walked behind Pepper as she swiftly left the room. Tony sighed once she shot him a look as she past him. “And that’s my notice to go to my lab.”

“You don’t have to go, Tony.” Kara protested with conviction. “If anyone should meet Kal El from this Earth it’s you!”

He walked over and kissed Kara on the temple. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to Earth 1, Blue, just leaving you to sort out the introductions between your Earth 1 boyfriend, and your Asgardian boy toy.”

Kara was left with her jaw hanging open. Barry shook his head and chuckled as he sat down next to Kara on the couch, still leaving a respectable space between them. “He does know about Iris doesn’t he?”

Kara sighed and hung her head so her hair hid her flaming face. “Yes, but he knows you guys aren’t together.”

“Actually we are.” He admitted softly but genuinely happy.

Kara flipped her hair back and gave him a warm bright smile. “That’s great! I’m really happy for you.”

“Who is Iris?” Loki asked as walked over to stand intimidatingly from the end of the couch.

“Iris West was my best friend growing up, and still is, even though we are dating now.” Barry explained with a nerdy, goofy smile as he thought of her.

Loki just raised a brow as he took a sip from his drink. Kara gave him a beseeching look, hoping he would behave. “Barry’s been in love with her all his life, basically. She was his foster sister.” She turned her face to smile at Barry so she wouldn’t have to look at Loki’s reaction to that statement. That last comment was as close as she felt comfortable hinting at her own feelings for Loki.

Barry nodded slowly and warily. “Pretty much, yeah,” He admitted softly as he looked between the two. Loki had gotten a curious look on his face, but had hid it very quickly. The micro expression of slight envy would have been missed by anyone without his powers. “I was ten when I moved in with Iris and her dad, Joe West.”

The silence following that statement was deafening. Loki was watching Barry. Barry’s eyes were flickering from Kara to Loki as he tried to think of anything that he could say to ease the tension. Kara was at a loss as to why Loki was trying to act like a big brother scaring off a potential boyfriend, when it had been made clear to him that Barry wasn’t interested in her.

“I’m sorry Barry, can you give Loki and I a second?” Kara asked after the tension got so thick she was ready to burst.

Barry looked relieved and gave her a quick, “Yeah, sure,” before he zipped out the door to the edge of the cliff that Kara and Loki had arrived over.

“What in Hel is your problem?” Kara snapped at him as she stood directly in his personal space, forcing his to take a quick step back. “You have been acting like a stuck up prat since yesterday! If you are still upset at me about a simple reaction to the sight of a weapon that nearly killed me… don’t take it out on everyone else!” She snapped at him.

Loki glared at her stone faced. “I am not angry at you for being afraid of the scepter.”

“Then why are you acting like this?” She gestured to him, his ridged stance and clenched fist making her aware of his true feelings.

“Do you have any idea just how dangerous this human is?” He gestured towards where Barry was standing. “Do you have any idea just how long I have been trained, and warned, to never do the things he talks about? Time travel is forbidden for a reason!”

“He hasn’t done anything. He’s trying to maintain the timeline!” Kara defended Barry heartfully. “It’s not his fault someone else caused a paradox on his Earth. He stopped it from becoming worse.”

Loki snarled and turned away from her to glare at the speedster who had his back to them. “He’s taking you away.” He admitted under his breath, knowing Kara would hear.

Kara sighed and sat heavily onto the couch. The feet of the couch groaned and the springs stretched to their limits for a moment before she righted her gravitational field to compensate. “ _My Loki_ , _I know I have to come back_.” She replied in Kryptonian. “ _I have a destiny here. I am not going to stay there. I’m just going to go and meet Kal El. Hopefully we can visit for a while and then come home_.”

Loki lowered his head sadly. “ _Mother was not so sure you would return.”_ He replied in her language.

Kara let the edge of her mouth turn up. That Loki already no longer stuttered at calling Frigga Mother was a win in her books. She hoped that Loki, Frigga, and Thor could still stay a family, even if Odin was on the outside. He seemed to want to be King, more than being a father these days.

“ _Mother was playing you to be sure you followed me, I’ll bet_.” Kara told him bluntly. She was sure of that. Frigga was vested in seeing them together. She hoped Kara could help Loki become more stable and less alone by becoming his wife.

Loki’s head snapped around and narrowed his eyes. “What makes you so sure about that?” He answered slipping back into Old Norse in his surprise.

Kara rolled her eyes playfully as she followed his lingual shift. “Mother knows me better than anyone else in _any_ Multiverse. She knows I would come back and fulfil my destiny. I might take a while to return. But I would always return to Asgard and this Midgard.” She waited for Loki to relax his hands. He still looked angered, but he always was indignant when Mother was able to manipulate him. Unlike anyone else, he also was aware Frigga never did so without the best of intentions. Kara found it amusing that no one but their mother could manipulate him in such a masterful way. Loki knew where he’d learned to be so ‘persuasive’, and yet he could never pick up on when she was giving him a push.

Loki finally sighed and sat beside her. “I do worry about what laws would be in effect on this Earth of his.”

Kara smiled and took his hand. “I’m not.” Loki looked in her eyes and could see her complete faith in this trip. “When Barry came last year, his speed device had been tampered with. It wasn’t designed to jump Multiverses, especially this many Multiverses.” She explained, her expression making it obvious that she was leading him to the simple conclusion. Loki looked even more concerned but Kara placed her fingers over his lips to quiet him. “ _The Norns_ were the ones to tamper with his device. I’m one hundred percent positive of that.”

Loki stilled as the implications of that statement filtered through everything he knew of _The Norns_ and their dealings. “They trusted him to be a link to meet with your previous destiny until you complete this one?” He suggested uncertainly.

Kara shrugged and looked towards Barry’s still, and tense frame. He had his arms crossed as he looked out towards the Ocean. “Or I am needed in both, and Barry is the key to allowing me to be in both Multiverses as needed.”

Loki sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Alright, I will be more open-minded.” He shot her a warning look. “That doesn’t mean I won’t put down anyone who endangers you.”

Kara laughed but nodded as she hugged him close to her. “You’ll like him. For a human he is very brilliant, and not nearly as abrasive as Tony.”

Loki smiled indulgently down at Kara. He knew in that moment that he was never going to be able to be unsupportive of her in her endeavors to be a hero on Earth 1, 617, or Asgard. Whatever _The Norns_ wished for her to do, Loki would be by her side, making sure she survived.

Loki was much friendlier when Barry came back in. Barry, for his part made sure to answer Loki’s questions about his Earth as honestly as possible, and considering how bad he was at lying it was a good thing. No one needed to be the God of Lies to know when Barry was bending the truth. Loki seemed to be trying to recall all the information they had from Brainiac about Earth 38 from before Kara had travelled Midgard to document the differences between the multiveres.

Kara ordered a huge amount of delivery from several of her favorite restaurants. She knew Loki and Barry were both capable of keeping up with her, and Darcy would soon reappear. For a human, her appetite was pretty impressive when she was hungry, and she wasn’t shy about eating to her heart’s content either. The food helped to break the tension, and Kara was actually hungry now that she and Loki had somewhat cleared the air between them. They had issues to air out, but she knew that would happen when they were both ready, which was not yet.

“The differences between your Earth and Earth 38 are actually fairly identical, until your mother’s death.” Loki finally summarized after about two hours of conversation. “At that point your Earth underwent a huge technological surge, while Earth 38 stalled it seems.”

“Clark thinks it might be because there was a surge of criminals that were intent on killing him that began popping up on his Earth after he became a hero.” Barry explained. “An accident made a ‘supervillain’, and after that he said people were scared to try new scientific advances like cold fusion.”

“Supervillains,” Kara scoffed, her face scrunched up with her disgust at the nickname. “The Press actually calls them ‘supervillains’?”

Barry shrugged and looked a little amused at her reaction. “I know, on my Earth we just call them ‘Rogues’ or ‘Evil Metas’.”

“It sounds like Clark’s Earth is obsessed with him being their _Super_ hero.” Loki suggested with a smirk. He knew how much Kara disliked being called ‘Supergirl’.

“If he is the only hero they have then it’s understandable.” Darcy added in as she sat back with her Root Beer bottle. “It’s not like here where they have a choice of a favorite mutant, enhanced human, alien, or even an extremely talented human to choose from.”

Kara nodded thoughtfully. “I never thought of it that way. Here there are so many people doing both good and evil, it’s hard to remember who all the different ‘heroes and villains’ are. Some are very local in their activities, while others like me and Ironman, we go anywhere.”

Loki put his arm around Kara and pressed a kiss to her temple. “That is not a new thing for you.” When she had just started out using her powers she had needed to learn to control them. She had practiced on natural disasters in Asgard. It was one of the reasons she tried to help with them on Midgard too. It was a good way to increase her exposure and build a reputation as a hero with the human public. It also allowed her to try new things without endangering people when it was a remote location.

The group was just finishing their dinner when Cisco breached back into the living room. “Ah don’t tell me I missed dinner!”

Darcy smirked at Cisco with her best flirty grin. “Don’t worry I can make it up to you later.”

Kara face palmed while trying to hide a snort of amusement. “Okay, that’s enough of that.”

The group quickly sorted themselves out. Kara, Loki, Darcy and Tony were planning on going to Earth 1 to meet Kal El. Cisco and Barry decided to split up and Barry would go first then the others would follow with Cisco being last.

Barry had barely cleared the breach when Kara flew through it. Loki jumped right behind her. Tony and Darcy walked much more calmly and Cisco shook his head at the Red-headed woman. “I don’t know when they will be back, but we’ll try to keep you updated.”

“Once a day will be fine,” Pepper told him with a sad smile. “Just take care of Kara. This is going to be overwhelming for her.”

He gave her a salute. “With pleasure ma’am,” He turned and joined the others back on Earth 1.


	4. Ch 4 – Kal El and Kara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry It's late.

**Part 4 - Arrowverse Comes knocking – Ch 4 – Kal El and Kara**

Kara had flown out of the breach a little fast and actually bumped into Barry. He’d used his speed to catch her as Loki stepped through. With a tiny gulp Barry quickly removed his hands from Kara’s waist. It wasn’t fast enough to avoid Loki’s notice. His eyes were lit with an emotion Barry was well acquainted with; jealousy. Hoping to off-set his glare Barry zipped over to Iris, who was waiting next to Kal El.

Kal El and Kara just stared at each other for a few seconds. Kara was unsure who moved first, but they met about halfway and both hugged the other with all their strength.

“I thought I’d never find you.” Kara managed to sob out. “I’m so sorry you were alone.”

Kal El just held her tightly. “I wasn’t alone.” He reassured her, his voice low and warm. “I’ve never been alone.”

Kara cried harder as she heard him. Her fingers dug into his shoulder as she tried to hold on tighter. “I should have been there for you, I’m so sorry.”

Kal rubbed her back softly. “You found me, Kara. I’m here.” His own voice was choked with tears as her frame trembled with hers. “I’m fine, and so are you.”

Darcy started to herd everyone out of the breach room. Tony and Loki both looked like they wanted to object, but Darcy pulled her tazer out and pointed it at Tony. “It took out Thor before it was powered up, want to try it?” She asked with an evil grin. “You’re not in your suit, Dude.” She helpfully reminded him.

Loki couldn’t help but smile at the memory of hearing that story. Thor had been embarrassed, and had begged him to never repeat the story on Asgard. Loki had of course promised no any such thing. He was saving it for when he wanted to get back at Thor. Preferably for being a braggart the next time he disrespected Loki at a feast. He quickly cast a charm that would allow him to overhear if Kara needed him before he willingly followed a playfully cowering Tony out of the room.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. Loki winked which caused her to raise an amused brow. “Kara is going to have trouble with you, tall, dark and trouble, I can already tell.” Darcy muttered at him. “Just don’t break her heart again, otherwise you are going to get an up close and personal re-enactment of my favorite story, and I get a brother set to my collection of tazered asses, you get me?” Darcy warned him, her face was stern but her eyes twinkled with mischief. Loki couldn’t help but like the girl.

“It was never my intent to cause Kara any harm.” Loki assured her, his mouth bend in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Darcy’s eyes stopped twinkling as she stared at him with remembered sorrow, “You still nearly killed her spirit with your attempted suicide.” She flatly stated as they passed through the doorway, though her voice held a hitch of her sorrow. She was holding back a surge of remembered emotions from those first few visits to Kara’s lab in Stark Mansion.

Loki felt an upsurge of remorse. He’d known Kara would be hurt by his actions, but at the time he had been too emotionally compromised to see any other way out. Darcy saw his reaction. She physically backed up a step and nodded her understanding, not that he knew why, but her gaze told him that she really did understand him and his feelings.

Darcy was adopted, but unlike Loki she’d been told when she was twelve. She’d had moments of doubt and rebellion as a teenager. Nothing like Loki, but she could easily see how not being told until she had been seventeen, and finding out the way he had, that it could be a very mentally traumatic event. She still had no idea about the Frost Giant stories he’d heard, or his childhood fear of them, so she had no idea just how tremendously disturbing the revelation had been. Still on a level neither knew there was a connection and he made both of them feel a little closer in their budding friendship.

In the breach room Kara and Kal El had finally backed up a step from each other and Kara was wiping her nose and eyes. “Sorry, I cried all over you.” She sniffled as she once more took in every line of his face. He was the spitting image of his father. The dark hair was common in the El family. Kara being blonde was actually a surprise to the family. The blue eyes were also an El family trait, one they shared. He was a little taller than Jor El, but his eyes held a kindness that no Kryptonian male would show in public.

He shook his head with a small smile. “I think you’re entitled to that.” He told her reassuringly as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “You have real memories of me. I’ve only had pictures, and I still teared up when I saw you.”

Kara barked out a surprised laugh. “My strongest memories of you are changing your diapers.”

Kal El wrinkled his nose. “Let’s not mention that ever again.”

Kara laughed again and he smiled widely back at her. “I just can’t believe how old you are.” Kara exclaimed quietly as she ran her hand down his face. “To me it was only ten years since I last saw you!” Clark had to stop himself from shrinking away from her touch. He was used to having to pull back when people tried to touch him. It was a reflex, but he didn’t want Kara to feel rejected, so he forced himself to not move away.

Clark’s face clouded over. “It’s been over thirty years since Krypton was destroyed.”

Kara blinked rapidly as she took that information in. “I was in stasis for over twenty years?”

Kal El nodded slowly. “That’s my best guess, give or take a year or two. It depends on if time passes differently on Asgard or not. My pod was in stasis for only three years before I arrived on Earth.”

Kara slowly shook her head. “No, the different races just age slower than humans. They don’t have a time distortion between Asgard and Earth. Most of the ‘gods’ live about 6000 years at most. Odin is nearing his 6000th year actually.”

Clark had so many questions to ask her about Asgard, but the warnings from Gideon made him hold his tongue. Right now he was also extremely interested in her life, and he imagined she was interested in his. Since hers was tied to Asgard, he hoped he’d get his answers without having to ask questions.

“Shall we join everyone else and we can get caught up on each other’s lives.” He suggested as he grabbed her hand and gave it a playful tug towards the door. “I feel like we’re being poor guest by ignoring them.” He admitted softly.

Kara beamed at him and he felt a wave of pure bliss, happiness and hope fill him. Somehow he knew everything was going to be great. He placed his arm around her shoulders and they began to walk together out of the room to join the others.

Kara and Kal followed the voices of the others into a conference type room that had enough chairs for everyone. There was a space for both of them in between Loki and Barry. The rest of Team Flash; Cisco Ramon, Caitlyn Snow, Joe, Iris and Wally West, were there along with Tony and Darcy.

When they entered Barry stood. “Hey guys I thought we’d go around the room and introduce everyone.”

Kara waved nervously. “Hi I’m Kara Zor El Friggadötter Stark, also known as Supergirl on Midgard.”

“And Princess Kara, on Asgard,” Loki chipped in with a bored tone as sat regally in his chair.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Ok, Princess and Ambassador to Midgard 167 Kara Zor El Friggadötter Stark, is that better?”

“Much,” he nodded formally. “Though you should drop the Stark bit.” He snorted with a hint of agitation at the end.

“Whoa, a princess,” Cisco breathed heavily, ignoring the byplay between Kara and Loki. He didn’t feel like getting into that would be a good idea. He kept the conversation moving instead, “and an Ambassador to Midgard? What’s Midgard?”

“Midgard is what the Asgardian’s call Earth.” Darcy chimed in with a friendly, flirty grin. “She’s a total bad ass in a fight too.”

Kara blushed lightly. “If you want all my titles, I am also a Warrior of Asgard 617.” Tony of course knew, as did Clark, Cisco and Barry. He’d mentioned it in passing to Iris, who remembered it, but the others either hadn’t known, or they didn’t remember, and they were all staring at her in awe.

Cisco was staring at her in an inappropriate way. He only had started figuring her size in his head when Loki slammed his open palm on the table. A beam of golden green light slammed into Cisco’s elbow that was resting on the table, knocking it off the edge and stinging his wrist and mouth.

“What the hell man!” Cisco stammered as the numbing of the spell made his speech slightly sluggish for a moment.

“You will not stare at her in such a manner.” Loki warned him with a sneer and cold, menacing tone that made them all shiver.

“Oh, it wasn’t what you think.” Barry interjected quickly as he looked around Kara to meet Loki’s gaze. “Cisco designs all our suits. That look usually means he’s sizing and designing in his head.”

Wally backed him up quickly, not really interested in an up close view of what a god was capable of when riled. “Yeah first time he looked at me that way I was weirded out too.” He shrugged when Cisco squawked a ‘What’ look that was a bit on the freaked out side. “You were totally sizing me up with your eyes. It was weird since I had no idea what was going on in your head, and I didn’t know you that well yet.” The uneasy laughter at Cisco’s expense helped to break the ice with the group and became more real after a few seconds.

Cisco quickly jumped in and explained that he designed the Flash suit, and that the fabric of Barry’s suit was a high-tech fiber he’d designed. He was quick to keep talking when Loki’s features changed to a more blank look, but he had cocked his head slightly indicating he was listening. Cisco continued to break down that he’s been looking at her and Clark, because knowing their powers and the family design, he’d been going over in his mind a way to upgrade, or at least designing a more protective and technological enhanced suit for Kara and Kal El that could incorporate the similar designs and colors. He didn’t mention the inspiration for the outfit being the picture of them in the future. He was thinking something close to the picture, but even in his head he was wondering where he could get the metal to do their suit.

“It would have to be a more enhanced fabric than Barry has right now though if you go into space.” Cisco finally finished explaining his basic thoughts on his ideas. Kara had leaned forward as he spoke really interested in what was going on in his head. Tony who was used to more advanced tech was bored.

Once that explanation for his unintentional leering had been accepted, Loki introduced himself to the rest of Team Flash. “I am Prince Loki of Asgard. Kara is my-” He paused for a moment to consider the right word for her position in his life. A year ago, he’d have said foster sister without hesitation. Now she was much more, and it seemed trivial to say it now. “ _My Kara_.” He finally said in Kryptonian.

No one had understood that expect Tony and Darcy who knew what it meant. Kara flashed him a bashful smile and reached out with her hand to squeeze his. She turned to Clark and without thinking said in Kryptonian, “ _Loki and I are being considered for a match, so ‘Foster Sister’ is no longer really appropriate_.”

Clark blinked at her in complete bewilderment. He recognized enough of the speech pattern to know it was Kryptonian. “I actual don’t know our language.” He admitted shamefully as he ducked his head a little to hide the slight flush of his cheeks.

Kara looked surprised but nodded slowly as it dawned on her why. “Oh, of course, you would have had anyone to teach it to you.” She breathed out with remorse once more for not being there for him.

He patted her hand. “You’ll be able to teach me now, and I can always have Kelex teach me when I return to my Earth.”

“You have a Kelex?” She asked with wide eyes full of envy. While she was lucky to have Brainiac, Kelex was a much more advanced AI system. Jor El would have had to have basically stolen it from the High Council, in order to place it in Kal El’s pod. All the Kelex systems were inter-connected, but unlike the higher Brainiac systems, it wasn’t dependent on a proprietary source code. All Brainiac systems could be shut down by the Brainiac Clan that had designed and held the patent on the code. Which was why it had no longer been used by the council, but the everyday higher civilian agencies still used the system. The whole planet had been interlaced with the program for most daily needs for running the cities and their equivalent of the internet.

Clark looked surprised. “Yeah, don’t you?”

“No, I only have a Brainiac basic.” She told him.

Clark’s eyes hardened. “You and I will have to talk about that before you go back. I’ve had a run in with a Brainiac before.” Kara nodded slowly and turned her attention back to the table.

Everyone knew the cousins had never spoken before and were being patient. Darcy was next to Loki and she charged into the silence. “Ok so I’m Darcy Lewis, also known as Betty Boop.” She elbowed Tony on her other side as she grinned at him. “I’m Kara’s best human friend, PR rep, and her secret identity’s lab rat, but I am actually a Poli-sci Major.” She waved to Tony, “Your turn.”

Tony stood and did his best impression of himself at the press conference when he’d come out. “I’m Ironman, also known as Tony Stark; billionaire, genius, playboy, and philanthropist.”

Kara snorted. “Not so much the playboy anymore.”

Tony glared at her but it was ruined by the small grin that played on his lips as he thought of Pepper. “It’s part of the image.”

Kara raised an eyebrow, “Does Pepper know that?”

Tony scowled at her. “You are going to ruin my reputation, you know that.” He snapped playfully at her. He and Pepper had talked about the flirting, and she didn’t mind it, as long as he kept the women at arms-length, and stepped away immediately after selfies with them.

“That’s my job since you did adopt me.” She smiled evilly at him. She still was rather annoyed with the high handed manner he’d done that. Although she had checked and he’d only adopted her secret identity.

“You’re trying to make me regret that aren’t you?” He growled.

“Isn’t that every child’s job?” She asked with a false innocence.

“It seems that way.” Joe West spoke out staring at Iris and Barry. He turned his attention to everyone else. “I’m detective Joe West. I’m Iris and Wally’s dad, and Barry’s foster dad.”

Kara smiled fondly. “Barry told me about what you did for him. Your actions were very much like my Mother Frigga’s. I am honored to meet you.”

“Being compared favorably to our Mother is the highest of compliments,” Loki added in a slightly formal tone.

Joe looked slightly embarrassed but nodded to them. “Thank you.”

Caitlyn was next. “I’m Doctor Caitlyn Snow. I’m the medical expert for Team Flash. I have a degree in bioengineering, but I have studied extensively into the medical field so I can patch up Barry and the others as needed.”

Cisco waited for her to be done to add his bit. “I’m Cisco Ramon, also known as Vibe. I’m the team engineer, genius, hacker, and suit designer. My abilities are creating the breaches and shooting blasts of energy from my hands, but that part isn’t consistent yet.” He admitted. “I’m the tech support right now for Barry when he’s out in the field.”

Wally beside him waved nervously. “I’m Wally West. I’m basically support for Team Flash, mostly because I know the secret.” He looked a little disappointed with his title but everyone else just accepted his explanation. “I’m a mechanical engineering student at City Central University.”

“So you’re a tech and lab support person like me.” Darcy smiled and leaned over the table to give the young man a ‘high five’, completely ignoring the why. In a way you could say the same for why she was in the position she was in. Wally gave her a half grin and returned her gesture so she wasn’t left hanging. “Hey we don’t get the glory but they couldn’t do what they do without us.” She beamed at him. Wally couldn’t help but smile a bit wider when the others of Team Flash agreed with her. Kara flashed a smirk to her for keeping the atmosphere upbeat. Darcy winked back.

That meant it was Iris’s turn. “I’m Iris West, part-time reporter, and Barry’s girlfriend. So I’m emotional support mostly.” She added, more for Wally’s sake than for introduction.

“You’re both more helpful than that.” Caitlyn added sternly, not liking the way they down played their contributions.

“Yeah, you guys often see stuff we don’t, and help save the day too.” Cisco agreed wholeheartedly. He remembered feeling that same way when he had started at STAR Labs. Rodney, Caitlin’s ex, had pulled him aside and made sure he knew he was valuable, even when others had put him or his ideas down. “You helped Jesse to escape the Time Vault,” He reminded Wally.

Wally had been exposed to Dark Matter during that episode. It was likely that he’d become a Meta if the Dark Matter Caitlyn was monitoring continued to spread throughout his body. Jessie had become a Speedster from that accident, and Wally was honestly hoping he did too. It was still too early to tell. “And Iris, I remember it being you that solved several mysteries for us when it comes to the Metas we’ve faced in this past year alone!”

“Thanks guys, but day-to-day we’re the background help.” Iris reminded them.

“That’s only because you don’t have powers. If you did, I can easily see you out there with me.” Barry bumped her shoulder supportively. Iris smiled genuinely at him. “Besides, you’ve stepped in a few times when I needed it on the radio.”

“And I always will be here if you need me,” She promised.

Barry looked back at everyone. “So I guess I’m up. Barry Allen, I’m the fastest man alive… on my Earth anyway.” He admitted a little sheepishly as he looked towards Clark. “I’ve been The Flash for just about two years. I woke up eight months after was hit by lightning during the Partial Accelerator explosion that created a huge amount of Metas in the city.”

“You and I are going to have to go over that.” Tony told him while pointing his finger at him. “Something about all this doesn’t add up.”

All of Team Flash nodded. “It was designed and sabotaged by a Speedster from the future specifically to create me years before I was originally supposed to be infected with Dark Matter.” Barry clarified.

“Still want a complete run down.” Stark told him briskly.

Cisco volunteered to show him everything. “After the meeting you can see everything if you want. I have video and reconstructions of the accident, you name it.” Tony agreed happily enough with Cisco’s openness. After dealing with Fury he wasn’t used to getting what he wanted without a fight. “I’d also like it if you could look over our Stark Reactor plans if you could?” Cisco asked enthusiastically.

“Sure kid.” Tony replied pleasantly.

“I guess that leaves me.” Clark said as he looked at everyone else. “I’m Kal El, or as I’m known on my Earth, Clark Kent. I’m a reporter for the Daily Planet and am married to my partner there Lois. I am also known as Superman when I am out saving people.”

“Lois Lane-Kent!” Iris blurted out. She’d been insanely curious if she had been the same woman from their world and if she had died because he wasn’t here on Earth 1 to save her. “Did you save her from a helicopter accident?”

Clark look startled but nodded slowly. “How did you know that?”

Team Flash all looked a little sad. “Her doppelganger from this Earth died in that accident a few years ago.” Iris told him. “She was a superstar reporter before that. Youngest ever to win journalism awards and she was the City Desk main reporter.”

Clark wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but a brief feeling of loss swept through him. “Oh. Yes, my Lois is the same woman I guess since she has the same job and she’s won dozens of awards.”

“So I guess that’s everyone.” Tony blurted out with a harsh clap of his hands trying to break the tension. “So what now?”

Clark and Kara looked at one another unsure what to say. “I suggest,” Loki began, “that we let ‘Clark’ and Kara have some time to talk while we busy ourselves elsewhere for a while?”

“If you all don’t mind.” Kara added as she looked around the room.

“Not at all.” Joe spoke for the Team. “We understand. How about we regroup in about two hours and go out together for a dinner and get to know each other?”

Everyone looked at one another with various degrees of smiles and nods. “Sounds like a plan then.” Barry said to everyone. “We can go to the bar near Jitters for a few some good food and maybe a drink or two for those of us that can drink.” He added with a sigh. His metabolism meant he couldn’t drink. He could, but the effect of alcohol didn’t have time to make him feel anything before it was metabolized.

Iris chuckled. “It’s also karaoke night.” At least if they were drinking Barry could sing. She loved listening to him on stage; he was amazingly good at it.

Barry laughed, feeling a bit more upbeat at the idea of singing a song for her. “That too.”

Kara giggled happily. “That sounds perfect.” Only Loki wasn’t thrilled with the plan, but he gladly kept his mouth shut since Kara was looking happier than he’d seen her in quite some time. He planned to spend the next two hours mining their database for everything he could find on their timeline issues. As everyone went their own way, Loki faded from view and began to explore the facility.

Barry was the only one to notice immediately that he was gone, but he wasn’t worried about what he’d get up to. It wasn’t as if they had the ability to stop him if he wanted to snoop around. They also had nothing to hide from him that Barry knew of. It would be up to Kara to stop him if he did manage to find trouble, and Barry had complete faith in Kara’s ability to keep Loki from _too much_ mischief. Instead Barry focused on showing Tony everything they had done with the Stark Reactor, the files on the Accelerator Explosion, and everything they later learned from Thawne.

Tony was a surprising helpful in helping Cisco keep focused on the right topics of conversation. He seemed to have a built-in radar for when Cisco was about to go off on a tangent and rein him back in. Stark was so insanely focused on the plans that Barry didn’t think he could pry him away from his seat and the borrowed computer with a crowbar.

Cisco and Barry were amazed by Stark’s ability to easily see what had taken them months to deduce about the explosion. He easily pinpointed the sabotage that only Cisco’s rival, Hartley Rathway, had discovered before the Accelerator blew up.

“He created a tachyon replicator and installed it here.” Tony told them as he pointed to a super conduit in the main substation of the power grid near the main power coupling to the actual reactor. From that substation the power ran to the three different points that sent the actual power into the accelerator. “It’s the only way the accident could have unfolded the way it did, and wouldn’t be able to be stopped once it started.”

“Yeah, that’s what Hartley said when he told us what he had found before that night. He reported it to who he thought was Dr. Well and was fired for it.” Barry admitted to him. “That’s when he realized Wells meant for it to blow up.”

Stark looked up with a calculating look in his eyes. “And this Wells was actual Thawne in disguise.”

“Yeah.” Barry sighed as he looked down with embarrassment at being so easily deceived.

Stark just nodded and went back to the plans. “I can see why only one guy figured it out.” He admitted softly as he looked over the plans. “From what I am seeing here it looks like the tachyon device was disguised as a very large power coupling. If he made the others the same size it wouldn’t have been seen at all.”

“They were the same size.” Cisco muttered bitterly. “The power levels were wrong though, unless someone had gone down and run a physical test they never would have seen it was the couplings. We’d all thought that the tiny variance was within the specs, so only Rathway went and looked at each relay to find out where it was and see if it could be fixed. We all thought he was being an ass, so we ignored him, and then we celebrated when he was fired.”

Stark didn’t even look up. “No surprised at all. This Thorn guy really covered his tracks well.” He ignored the rest of Cisco’s comment.

Tony really didn’t like to get into other people’s feelings. He had enough issued dealing with his own. The wake-up call Kara had given him had been what he needed to start healing from his time in Afghanistan. He’d needed her to tell him about his civilian mindset, which was unprepared to deal with the amount of death he could and would dish out, verses a warrior one that would allow him to live with his decisions. Even more important for his mental health after his personal mini war with the terrorist group was learning how to deal with his actions. When he’d started going after Ten Rings with a vengeance, those talks were what had helped him put things in perspective. The talks with both his friends helped him move more towards a military mindset when it came to Ironman and what he was doing as a ‘hero’. He still had issues with his PTSD at the strangest times. Rodney had told him he’d need a professional, but Stark was resistant to trusting anyone not in his inner circle with his secrets. After Stane, it was a miracle he even had an inner circle that included more than Pepper and Happy.

He looked over at the screen beside him that held their Stark reactor. “Your arc reactor is looking good. You just need to add a few extra coils of wire here and here to create even flow.” He said as he pointed to the areas he meant. “Normally even numbers work, but with this design and the new element the numbers need to be even and odd, consecutively.”

Cisco quickly changed the specs and watched as the computer simulation said it failed. “But it’s not working theoretically.”

Tony frowned and went into their base code and added a few variables to their math system. “Arc reactor tech is run on Base 8 math.”

Cisco banged his head off the table. “The plans are Base 8 but the simulator-”

“Is running Base 10.” Barry groaned as he realized their simple, but basic mistake. “No wonder we haven’t gotten the thing to work in simulation, but Wells 2 did.”

Tony just raised a brow. “The setup you had would have worked in practical applications; this setup is just more efficient at creating the power exponentially.” The workmanship was near perfect. He completely approved of their design. The housing was a seal encasement to stop others from trying to recreate the work. Cisco had actually built in a small cutoff switch that would destroy a few delicate parts if the case was ever opened. That was something Stark was now considering adding to his own commercial design. Without the small coils and a damaged housing for the element, the device would be hard to replicate.

Barry and Cisco nodded. “Thanks. It was such a simple fix.” Barry admitted.

Cisco just went to work looking over the newest simulation and the power outputs. “Damn this is amazing.”

Tony flashed him a smile. “It’s what I do.” Cisco couldn’t help but be awed and intimidated by the older man. “If you really want to see something amazing you should see my suit.” Tony foot tapped the metal briefcase at his feet.

Cisco’s eyes popped out. “Could I, seriously?”

Tony deployed the suit and Barry and Cisco both watch in amazement at the suit covered him from his arms then his torso before moving to cover the rest of his body. Cisco nearly forgot to breathe as he moved forward with his hands out to touch the suit. Tony held up his hands. “Hey, no fondling while I’m in it!” He barked and he automatically brought his hands up defensively. He opened the back of the suit and stepped out and leaving the back open before waving for Cisco to look it over.

Cisco thought he had died and gone to engineering heaven as he started looking at the internal workings of the Iron Man travelling suit.

Darcy had grabbed Iris by the hand when everyone began to separate and smiled. “Girlfriend, you and I need to talk shop.” Wally had followed them, feeling out of place with everyone else. They had quickly bonded over their roles and spent the next couple of hours dishing about ‘their heroes’. With Iris having been a ‘reporter’, and Darcy now being a Press Relations Officer for Kara, the two had shared their experiences. Darcy never used her own name or picture so far. She always used Stark Industries PR department to release her statements.

Iris schooled her about making the most of her position from a reporter’s point of view, all things Darcy could relate to Pepper and the way she handled the press. Releasing her image would open her up to retaliation to get to Kara and Tony. Pepper had been targeted during the whole Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer incident. Iris warned her that Cisco too had been targeted for his skills and knowledge about The Flash by a criminal who had figured out their friendship. It was one of those things that was a double edge sword, the press was more likely to take her seriously if they knew who was making the releases, otherwise they might assume it was Supergirl herself. Most times that would be alright, but if it was a controversial issue (like if the World Council made public charges against Supergirl) the press was more likely to crucify her without a known representative.

They had also caught each other up on what was happening in each world so they could help each other out by keeping in contact. Darcy dished on The Avengers, spending a great deal of time talking about Bruce Banner, Clint Barton and Steve Rogers. Iris had found her commentary amusing, especially when she added her pictures and little movie clips she had gathered about each of them.

Wally had rolled his eyes so many time he was beginning to have a headache before they moved on to the other members and their relationships. He had been just as fascinated as Iris in the sibling relationship between Kara, Thor and Loki. It was strange for him to suddenly have a big sister looking out for him. He’d never even met her until a few months ago. Both Joe and Iris West had welcomed him with open arms pretty much from the start when his mom had died. All the hard feeling about how he’d been hidden from Iris and Joe by his mother; they were open secrets. No one blamed him for staying away and not contacting them sooner, and he didn’t blame them for not knowing about him. Those missing years were just facts they were trying their hardest to move on from.

“Don’t get me wrong. Kara is so gone over Loki it’s not funny.” She told him in a conspiring whisper. “And Loki has been checking her out so there is hope for that starting soon.” Darcy had smugly told them before drinking her Root Beer from the bottle. Iris had tried not to look relieved, but Darcy had been watching for it. “Dudette has only been interested in your man for his ability to jump dimensions.” She chuckled. “They just clicked on a friendship level. No need to get protective there.”

Iris looked like she was about to deny her concern when Wally snorted. “Told you,” he chuckled very quietly. “You have nothing to worry about from Barry either. From my first day here I could see he was totally in love with you. Only you were oblivious.”

Iris sighed heavily. “I know, Dad finally told me how long Barry has been in love with me.”

“This I gotta hear.” Darry cackled as she perked up for the story. Iris glared at Wally so he let her start. As they got to the part about her helping out at STAR Labs, Darcy and Wally got more into the conversation about what they did to support their teams, sometimes with permission, and times without.

Darcy just had a way of explaining their roles and making them see how important they were to their heroes. Wally knew deep down that Barry needed them when he was out there, alone. He was always asking for advice, or asking if ideas could work, or even directions. All of that help they provided made it possible for Barry to do the things he did. Overall Wally was enjoying talking to Darcy. When he was honest to himself, it was the glory from helping people that he wanted. He wasn’t happy about the pain, and the level of sacrifice that he’d seen Barry endure that made him want to be a hero. He also knew if he was Barry, it would help him to know he had others who could, and would, help him so he didn’t feel alone out there.

When Wally and Jessie Quick had been trapped in the Time Vault, they had both been exposed to Dark Matter, but his body hadn’t absorbed enough to develop powers. Most people in Central City had the same thing happen to them when the Accelerator exploded. It was less than one percent of the population that developed powers, and most of them hid their abilities from other people. Flash was the only ‘Superhero’. There had been about a dozen rogues so far, and some of them, like Snart, hadn’t actual developed powers. There were also people who had never accessed their powers, or the powers were so subtle they were unaware of their abilities.

“I mean, my girl is invulnerable. And she totally nearly died!” Darcy had been explaining as he had zoned out for a minute. “I didn’t even know until after she had healed. If Tony hadn’t found her, or Loki hadn’t left the healing stone on her, she totaled would have bled out on the floor!”

“So magic is her weakness?” Iris asked fascinated by Kara’s abilities.

Darcy shrugged but she shivered a little giving away just how close a scare it had been. “It’s supposedly this super magic weapon. For all I know it could just be only that one, but of course that meant it had to be the weapon she faced and was skewered by.”

“Must have been to go through her armor too, right?” Wally added. He’d been looking at the designs and loved the look of the medievalish looking space armor.

Darcy shook her head sadly. “It didn’t go through the metal part, it slide down and entered through the area that is only covered with leather for movement over her abdomen.”

Wally shuddered a bit. Barry’s suit was basically a high-tech reinforced tripolymer fireman’s suit Cisco had designed. Against that same magic, Barry would have been toast too. Luckily magic seemed to be in short supply on this Earth, so far at least.

By the time everyone was being rounded up later, Iris was feeling much better about the friendship between Kara and Barry. Wally was also feeling much better about his role on Team Flash; though he still wished he has some type of power so he could be in the field rather than Cisco’s assistant.

Kara and Clark spent most of the afternoon talking about the basics of how they grew up and sharing pictures and stories, trying to get to know each other. It was a little awkward at first as she tried to equate the older man with the baby she had cared for, and he tried to get to know the young woman who knew so much more about his home planet than he ever could.

“Have you seen pictures of Krypton?” She asked him after an hour of basics and a few pictures of the people in their lives.

“Yes, when I got the basic history of what had happened, and I studied the architecture. It was lovely.” He replied with a bit of a long stare as he remembered the cityscape. It was mostly grey buildings, but the cityscape was futuristic compared to Metropolis and several building has an organic look to them. Unlike Metropolis, with its glass lined buildings, Krypton had practical almost concrete buildings. They weren’t pyramid shaped but they had wide bases that often narrowed towards the top.

She pulled up a picture with a crystal projector. It was an apartment-like building with a garden and a walled in courtyard. “This was our family compound.” She told him with a smile. “Our families lived in the same building. You were born three floors above my family’s floor in your parent’s apartments.”

“There wasn’t a hospital?” Clark asked as he took in the building. It was like a live shot. He could see people moving about in the garden. The hologram moved for about five seconds before resetting, much like a 3D live picture on his cell phone.

Kara shook her head with a smile. “Not for simple birthing. A medical AI would be on hand to administer any medication. Any high risk pregnancies would require an actual doctor to be present, or a visit to a medical facility. Birthing is actually not half as dangerous for a Kryptonian as it is for human.”

“Why is that?” Clark asked intently.

Kara shrugged to hide her discomfort at discussing the topic. “Kryptonian birthing canals are stronger and more elastic than humans I believe. Our bodies are much more durable inside and out. We also aren’t born with oversized heads. Our brains are more elastic and can grow, where humans have limited amount of regeneration ability.”

Clark for his part blushed and looked down at his hands. “Oh, I should have guessed it was something like that. I thought it might have been an advanced medical procedure or something.”

Kara pushed ahead. “So what was it like where you grow up? Smallville you said, right?”

Clark told her all about growing up in Smallville with Martha and Johnathan Kent. He described his struggles learning about his powers. “The hardest part was hiding all the things I could do so people wouldn’t try and take me away.”

Clark told her about landing on Earth 38, in a corn field belonging to Jonathan and Martha. He explained how he had not aged for nearly a year before he grew as a normal human. He told her about Jonathan’s fear of him being found and experimented on, so Clark had to hide all his abilities. The first to really manifest was his invulnerability. He’d always been super strong. As he grew, so did the amount of weight he could lift.

The invulnerability had also started light and developed. As a baby he’d been able to get cuts, but they healed in minutes. As he got older the time lessened until it didn’t happen at all, and then he wasn’t even affected by malfunctioning farm equipment.

With both the strength and the invulnerability, he’d never been able to get close to anyone and make friends. That was until Lois and Jimmy, then later Harry and Tess Wells, and finally the scientists Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers at his Earth’s STAR LABS. All those people had entered his life much later than in high school when he really needed close friends to turn to. He’d been quite lonely with only a few superficial friends since he had to keep everyone at a distance.

The vision was the next power to develop for him; x-ray first, then heat vision. He’d been lucky that the heat vision broke through during winter break of his sophomore year. He’d gotten it under control by the time school re-opened three weeks later. The snow had kept the barn from burning to the ground on more than one occasion during that Christmas break.

He’d never noticed he didn’t get cold or too hot. Being outside with a light jacket any time of year was just one of those quirks about ‘that strange Kent kid’ in Smallville. His cold breath had manifested the following winter and was much easier to control. He had just stopped the urge to take super deep breaths until he’d managed to do it only when he wished to.

Flight for him had been the last power. He’d been able to jump over the barn by age fifteen, but actual controlled flight had taken until he had been ready to graduate from high school. It had also taken a suggestion by his mother to add a cape to help control the tight turns. He’d had to create the more durable Kryptonian fabric since Earth fabrics often didn’t survive any faster than sound flights.

Learning his limits had been an impossible chore, until Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers had started testing him. They had also helped him learn what Kryptonate was and how to protect himself from it. Harry and Tess Wells had created a lead lined suit that he used to collect the Kryptonate that he had managed to find so far. They had also helped him locate the main meteorite that had brought over ninety percent of the radioactive rocks to Earth.

He told her how when he was entering high school Johnathan had taken him out to the barn. That was when he’d shown him the ship he had landed in, and where he had hidden the crystals from the ship. He told her how he’d taken the crystals after Johnathan had died. He told her about his journey to get as far from any human population as he could. He’d walked until he knew he was as remote a location as he’d ever find before he threw the crystal into the snow instinctively, and created from that master crystal, his Fortress.

“So your Fortress is on the surface. Where anyone can find it with a satellite?” She asked him incredulously. She and Loki had studied thousands of maps before deciding on Northern Norway for her own Fortress (although it was the preferred place from day one). She had also worked very hard to hide the thing underground and camouflaged its existence.

Clark once again looked embarrassed. “I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time, and honestly I didn’t know throwing it would create the Fortress. It was just a crystal that seemed to be guiding me into the tundra of northern Alaska and I was just so angry at everything right then.”

Kara nodded slowly with a touch of understanding. She remembered being angry too when she began to process just how unprepared she’d been. She had been eight and she’d had no explanations other than a promise to care for Kal El and the next second she was shot off into space. “I’ll have to show you how to move it so no one can find it and steal from you.” She quietly muttered.

“Where is yours?” He asked quickly. He didn’t want to get into the topic of Lex Luthor or his successful excursion into his Fortress during the General Zod episode two years ago. He’d added a dwarf star key since then. No human could lift it to open the door now.

“The ceiling comes up to about the permafrost layer of a glacier field in northern Norway. To anyone tracking heat signatures with satellites it looks like geothermic lava vents.” She smiled fondly. “It’s also near one of two permanent Bifröst anchor points for Midgard, so it actually a sacred place to those that still believe in the lore and is protected.”

Clark looked impressed, “That’s a pretty good hiding place,” he admitted before they moved on.

Kara told him about Asgard. She mostly focused on her powers and when they had emerged. She’d always had the ability to hover, but flying and the other powers had manifested suddenly after she turned thirteen. She explained that the sun in the Asgardian system was different from Earth’s, so her powers had taken time to fully charge her cells. She’d always had them; she just didn’t always have enough energy to use them.

“So the ‘ozone filtering field’ is much higher on Asgard.” Clark had surmised.

Kara thought about that before giving his a semi agreement with a wave of her hand from side to side. “Asgard is flat, so the atmosphere isn’t kept by gravity. It’s maintained really by the Seiðr of Asgard. The Heart of the realm in the base of the mountain at the center of the planetoid,” She explained. “The planetoid is like a flat disc with a giant mountain in the center, on both the sides. We live on the ‘upper side’ where it’s always spring and summer, and the icy underside is always winter.” She pulled up another picture. This one was a picture of Asgard from a distance, taken from a spaceship.

Clark’s attention was caught by the phrase ‘Heart of the Realm’. He wondered if that was the part of Asgard that the Dwarves had used to create part of Krypton and the rest of their solar system. After the warning he was hesitant to ask about it.

“Without industrial pollution at the level Midgard employs, Asgard’s ozone layer is stronger. It’s more magic that keeps the sun’s rays at a healthy level for Asgardians, and creates their gravity well.” She finished.

It took several seconds before Kara couldn’t take the silence and jumped in to ask him another question, “So there is a STAR LABS on your Earth.” Kara had breathed softly.

Clark nodded slowly grateful she had come up with something. His mind was racing with questions he wasn’t sure he should ask her, at least not yet. “I picked up that the Harry Wells here was evil, that’s one reason I didn’t mention it to Barry and the others yet.”

Kara smiled reassuringly. “Knowing Tess is alive and working with your Wells, will be a relief to Barry and the others. The speedster from the future that pretended to be their Wells was named Thawne. He killed their Wells and his fiancé before they could start to build STAR LABS here.”

Clark just shook his head with a bashful smile. Kara couldn’t help but chuckle at how much like Barry, Clark could be. Maybe it was the getting used to strange events that made them uncertain, but Kara found she was able to accept things quicker than both of them.

“I guess it’s my turn to tell you about Asgard since I know the knowledge is strictly guarded.” Kara sighed trying to think of how to impart the information she knew. So much of it was forbidden according to Brainiac, that he hadn’t even been programed with the knowledge. Clark leaned forward eager to hear about the mythical planetoid.

“I crashed there just before the turn of the millennium.” She told him. “My pod crashed just outside the city of Asagarth, which is the capital. Thor and Loki were out riding with friends and they were the first to reach my pod. Thor pulled the cover off and the stasis was broken.”

Clark winced. “He didn’t unlock the stasis lock first?” Clark had been lucky, knowing he’d entered Earth’s solar system. His ship’s systems had begun the reversal of his stasis. Kara obviously hadn’t had that day and a half to awaken properly.

She shook her head. “They had never seen a ship like mine before and they didn’t know how to open it properly. So Thor just pulled on the front of the pod until it opened. To be fair they thought they were saving me.” She added with a chuckle.

Clark smiled widely. “I’m sure they did.”

“I was still a child when they opened the pod.” She told him at a whisper.

Clark nodded slowly. He’d have been twenty-five then, but still looking only about twenty. He’d stopped aging while living in the Fortress of Solitude learning as much as he could. Something about the building filtered the sunlight to recharge him. Unlike Kara’s fortress, he didn’t have a Soul Forge, but he could use Kryptonian tech to help him rebuild damaged tissue. He also had a chamber Kara didn’t. She’d never wanted to be human, so she had never activated the protocols that had the Fortress create a ‘red sunlight chamber’. Its purpose had been to take away Kryptonian powers by turning off the genes that made them different from humans.

“My foster mother, Queen Frigga, had been given a dream the night before. _The Norns_ had sent her a message to raise me as her own, because I was needed to right the course of time, and prevent Ragnarök in their Multiverse.”

Clark couldn’t help his jaw dropping open as he gapped at her. “ _The Norns_ , as in the Sisters of Fate; those Norns! They are real?”

“Yes, they are considered the most powerful of all beings in the Multiverse. From what I have been able to understand they are in every universe and can talk to each other.” Kara surmised with a shrug. “The ones in 617 needed me, but I have other parts of my destiny I need to complete here I guess, and maybe later in our own universe.” She guessed with another shrug. “Either way, I have to stay until I prevent Ragnarök. I’m just not sure how, since the man who lead the rebellion in our multiverse was never born there, or at least never made it to adulthood.” She didn’t like thinking about what _The Norns_ wanted and what would happen afterwards.

“But Loki is the God of Mischief and Magic, just as the leader of Ragnarök was, isn’t he?” Clark asked.

Kara bit her lip and fidgeted with her fingers. “No one in my multiverse knows that, and besides Loptr doesn’t exist in 617.”

Clark’s eyes bulged out. “That’s one heck of a secret to keep Kara.”

“I know, but if Odin or the others knew even that much, they could condemn Loki for Loptr’s actions as if there was a prophecy.” She told him with a hint of fear. “If Odin moves against Loki because he learns of this, oath or no oath, I will lead an invasion against Odin myself.” She told him fiercely.

Clark was both shocked at her words and understood where she was coming from. Anyone who was a threat to Lois would meet the same reaction from him. “Let’s just keep this to ourselves. I imagine you told Loki at least.”

Kara shook her head. “Not even Tony or Barry. Barry knows about Loptr too because he studied the myths from his Earth.”

Clark gave her a disappointed look. “Loki has the right to know he could be in danger if anyone ever learns about this. With the crossing back and forth we’ll be doing, someone is going to figure it out, or it could accidentally be leaked to the wrong person.”

Kara fiercely glared at him. “Until now it wasn’t a possibility.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “But you are right, he should know now that it is a concern.”

Loki materialized in the room. “In that case, I will not need to be upset with you for keeping secrets.” His eyes were hard, but not unforgiving.

Kara bit her lip and sighed. She wasn’t surprised to find he’d been listening in. He had never been good at waiting to find out what was going on around him. As a budding Spymaster it was expected for him to know things he shouldn’t. It was one of the reasons why Kara had never spoken of the myths out loud, or read them in anything but Kryptonese. “The best way to keep a secret is to not share it with anyone.”

Loki nodded slowly as he considered everything he had just learned. “And that is the only reason it has never been brought up before?” He was wary but as always with Kara, she was not being purposefully deceptive with him.

Kara nodded stiffly. She knew he was weighing what she said against his aspect. “Even mother has no idea the myths are on the database. When they unlocked for me I made sure they could not be read by anyone else. Even you are locked from them because no one needed to know. It was history from a different Multiverse and had nothing to do with you. But I knew how some would use it.”

“Are they my Earths myths?” Clark asked. He was just trying to gauge how serious the situation was. Kara still hadn’t gotten to the god powers and aspects, so Clark had no idea the levels of tension between Kara and Loki.

Kara nodded slowly and decided to explain the basics for Loki. “In the myths Loptr was Odin’s adopted brother, and the scapegoat for everything that went wrong on Asgard after he was involved in the accidental death of Odin’s biological. Odin took his anger and revenge out on Loptr’s children when he couldn’t hold Loptr responsible. Of the children; two were locked in animal forms and banished, one became the Goddess of death and banished to Niflheim, one of his twins was forced to become a wolf to kill the other, he killed himself afterwards, and two others were birthed on Earth and were half human, Odin slaughtered them personally. When he escaped his final punishment, after the twins were killed, he gathered his banished children, and with his daughter’s help, he led the dishonored dead, along with the rebelling Realms, against Asgard. Loptr was killed by Heimdall, but when he stuck the death blow, Loptr was able to deliver a fatal blow as well. Thor was killed by one of the sons, and the other killed Odin.”

Loki leaned forward with wide eyes and grabbed her hand. “Odin did that to his own brother?”

Clark looked sorrowful at Loki. “If I remember correctly Odin’s excuses were mostly in response to Loptr being so intelligent, and the death of his son Baldr. He also effectively banished his own brothers so his position as King could never be challenged.”

Kara shook her head. “The Odin of 617 is very different from the Odin of this and Clark’s Midgard. For one he isn’t as bloodthirsty.”

Loki nodded absently. “I’m sorry I intruded but I heard my name and decided to see what you were telling him of me.” He said to Kara as he got up to leave. It was a lie. He’d actually been listening in since they had arrived, but he was feeling a little guilty for it.

“Never anything bad,” She assured him with a smirk. Loki snorted lightly but quickly dematerialized.

“Does he do that often?” Clark asked a little unnerved by the display of magic.

“No, he usually is much better about my privacy, but he is on edge because of what Barry can do.” She stared at where Loki had disappeared as she answered him.

“So mentioning his name was what brought his attention to us?” Clark asked confused as to how good his hearing was.

Kara nodded with a slight smile. “Loki is a full-fledged god within his aspect. By lying to protect him and mentioning his name, it would have pulled his attention, especially when it was me who was speaking.”

“You’re a goddess now too.” Clark asked her cautiously. He knew Loki’s aspect was mischief, magic and lies. He wasn’t sure how it worked, but he was curious about a lot of things about Kara and Asgard.

Kara scrunched up her nose and shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, but I’m not sure of what, or if I even have an aspect yet. I’m really young to have been made a Goddess and it was by accident. I wasn’t supposed to become a Goddess, but, I took on Thor’s powers for a few days and when they returned to him a bit of divinity stayed within me.”

Clark shook his head. “And I thought my life was strange.”

“So much has happened I often feel much older than I seem.” She admitted. “It feels like I have lived those extra twenty years, not in stasis.”

Clark chuckled softly. “I still find it hard to believe you are actually older than I am.”

Kara laughed in return and asked about Lois. Clark smiled deeply and told her about meeting Lois for the first time as both Clark and Superman. Kara couldn’t help but smile widely as he told his story. She found the whole thing funny and romantic.


	5. Meeting Team Arrow

**Part 4 - Arrowverse comes knocking - Chapter 3 – Meeting Team Arrow**

A little while later, Barry popped his head in to check in with them. “Hey guys, some of us are getting hungry and we are meeting in the front to head out to the Karaoke Bar. Are you guys wanting to join us, or are you going to stay here and talk some more?”

Both Kara and Clark were feeling a little wrung out from their emotional talk. With a quick shared look both silently agreed to head out with everyone else. “That would be great Barry. We’ll just need a few minutes to change. While Clark was in his civilian clothes, Kara was still in her everyday armor.

Barry chuckled. “It takes you less than two seconds to change.” He reminded her.

Clark looked at him with a slight blush on his cheeks. “It takes me less than a second, and I’ve done it while falling from a height.” At their combined confused looks he continued. “I jumped off a skyscraper as Clark, and changed into Superman on the way down. No one saw me.”

Barry snorted. “That would have been a shock to anybody who had been looking.”

Kara rolled her eyes and simply changed into a simple sleeveless black dress with magic. Clark gaped at her for a second. “That was magic?”

Kara nodded with a soft smile. “I just shifted the clothes I wanted out of my storage space and moved my armor into it simultaneously.”

Clark looked at Barry. “I agree with Cisco. I want an anime pocket too! I have to wear my Superman costume under my clothes. While it helps to make ‘Clark’ look fatter than I am normally, I was lucky Lois never noticed before I wanted to tell her.” He shifted his t-shirt as they could see the blue of his suit underneath.

Barry clapped him on the shoulder. Kara noticed the minutely movement that Clark made when he did and the action made Barry back his hand away. “Join the club. I’ve wanted one for years. Supposedly we’ll figure it out in the future. Thawne had a ring that stored his suit and he could jump into it while running at Speedster speeds.”

Clark looked envious. “When you figure it out I want one too.”

Barry held out his hand and they shook on it. “That is a deal! You’ll be the leader of the Justice League, so I imagine I’ll be gladly sharing with you anyway.” He beamed at Clark.

“I’m going to love working with you.” Clark told him sincerely. Like Barry, Clark had never met anyone else who was in the hero business because they had a choice, and they made it to help people.

Wally being the underage member of the team, and having homework he need to finish, volunteered to watch over the lab for any metahuman or major emergencies on the police and emergency bands. Cisco could breach back and run the computer support if a real emergency popped up.

_Nearing 9 pm_

They had been having a great time. For once Barry didn’t feel alone in not being able to get drunk. Loki, Kara, and Clark all were in the same boat. While they were capable of getting drunk, human alcohol wasn’t strong enough. Loki offered to provide Asgardian ale when they returned to their accommodations for the evening.

“Where will we be staying?” Kara suddenly asked looking a little concerned. She hadn’t even thought about those types of things in her excitement to see Clark.

“Oh,” Barry exclaimed, “I forgot to ask Joe, but I’ll text him now. We have a guest room and a couch…” He trailed off as he realized they were several beds short.

Kara just nodded with a shrug of her shoulders. “I can sleep above the floor.”

“You can fly in your sleep?” Caitlyn asked with intense curiosity.

Kara bit her lip as she fought a smirk. Thor hated she could do that when they were on campaigns while he had to sleep on the hard ground. “It made camping more comfortable.”

Loki snorted and then chuckled lightly. “Made the others quite jealous I assure you, especially when we were sleeping on icy, hard ground.”

Kara looked quite smug. “I certainly wasn’t going to share body heat with that frozen cow Sif. _I’d_ have frozen to death.” She kidded.

Barry’s cell phone rang and the contact showed it was STAR Labs. Barry quickly answered. “Hey Wally-”

“BARRY, Keystone International just had a plane call in a Mayday.” Wally told him quickly over the phone. Clark, Kara and Loki’s heads turned as if he was talking on a speaker in a silent room rather than in the private setting in a loud bar. Barry realized they could all hear him. “I figured I should call.” Wally stammered, unsure if there was anything Barry could do for a crashing plane.

“Thanks, Wally,” Kara replied as she leaned forward so he’d hear her over the phone. “I’m on my way. If Cisco can bring Tony with him to STAR Labs,” she saw both Tony and Cisco nod, “Tony will patch your satellite systems into my ear piece.”

“Ah yeah, thing is the pilot is trying to ditch the plane in the lake but he’s on a vector to take him down the river in case he can’t make it. If he does that there are two bridges in the way.” Wally warned them. “I don’t think he knew that when he started that way.”

Kara groaned before she turned to Clark. “We’ll need to raise the altitude carefully, one on each side to give it enough lift to clear the bridges safely. It’s still likely to be too abrupt and might damage the plane badly.”

“I can get one of the bridges out of the way by phasing it. “Barry told them. He’d done that very thing earlier that year. It was difficult but he knew he could do it again.

“I can also do the same with magic.” Loki told her. He was impressed that Barry would be able to do that without destRaying the bridge or without magic.

She smiled widely, with the bridges out of the way they wouldn’t need to worry about hurting the passengers with maneuvers that airframes weren’t designed to handle. “Let’s save the plane then.” She turned to run out of the bar, everyone quickly on her heels.

“Personal emergency,” Kara called over her shoulder as she and Loki passed the front hostess counter.

Barry dropped his police business card and what he hoped was enough money to cover their drinks and dinner as he ‘ran’ past at human speed. “Sorry that should cover it. If it doesn’t call and I’ll cover the rest tomorrow!” Barry called as he slipped passed the startled hostess. Clark and Iris just tried to keep up.

The hostess was about to call the manager over before she looked at the card. It said Barry Allen, CSI Central City Police Department. She smirked and placed it in her apron and checked the bill verses the amount of cash. No only had he left enough cash, but a good twenty-two percent tip. She just smiled and handed the tip to the waitress, but kept the card for herself.

Cisco and Tony had ran into the bathroom, and one minute and thirty seconds later Tony had patched the STAR Labs personal satellites through to Kara. They ran into the alley where Clark spun as he changed into his costume that fit under his regular clothes. Kara faded into her Supergirl persona, and Loki shifted into his regular armor. She pulled the extra comms for Clark and Loki out of her storage space and handed them out. Barry shook his head, wishing he had the ring Thawne had so he could have his suit with him all the time. “I have to run back to STAR LABS, but I’ll get to the bridge in about twenty seconds.”

Kara nodded as she extended her hand to Loki and launched the rest of them into the air. “Tony, where do we need to direct Loki?”

“Double suspension bridge near the middle of the city.” Kara could see it, but rather than let her drop him off Loki dematerized.

A moment later his voice came through the comms. “I am in place.”

Kara and Clark nodded to each other and quickly scanned the skies. The plane wasn’t hard to spot. One engine was smoking and the other was smoking and had a faint glow of a fire burning within it. “I’ll take the flaming engine, you take the other one. We’ll blow them out first.” She ordered. She was used to telling Tony where she would be and giving orders. It never occurred to her to not take charge of their portion of the rescue.

Clark nodded and shot towards the plane. Kara followed right away. “Tony, get us on with air traffic control if you can.”

“I’m patching you through.” He called as he worked his magic with the computer systems at STAR LABS. Their satellites were much more powerful than anything he’d worked with before and they seemed to be setup for hacking. JARVIS was sailing through firewalls at speeds it was even unaccustomed to.

“Flight 351, you are not going to make it to the lake,” Came the voice of a scared voice of the air traffic controller. “You’re too low, I repeat, you’re too low! If you can’t pull up you need to ditch NOW!”

Kara and Clark both latched onto the engines at the same time making the whole plane shudder as they blew cold air into the smoking engines and then positioned themselves under each wing at the joint of the engines.

“We’re leveling off and the fires are out in both engines!” The co-pilot exclaimed in astonishment as his instruments also told him the engines temperature had dropped to below freezing.

“That’s not possible!” The captain snapped back.

“Flight 351, this is Supergirl, a friend of The Flash of Central City.” Kara spoke calmly into the mic. In the cockpit the pilots just looked at each other. Her voice was slightly distorted by the high wind, but they could hear her clearly enough.

“Ah ok, we are in the middle of an emergency here-” The Captain started to say.

“I’m aware. I am under your right wing providing the lift to stop you from crashing.” Kara told them. “My cousin is under your left wing. Air Control, be advised that The Flash and Loki are going to be taking the bridges out of our way. Captain, I need you to turn off your controls. We are going to slowly lift you to two thousand feet and bring you back to the airport. We’ll be steering and providing all the lift you will need.”

“How the hell can you do that?” Sputtered the co-pilot as the captain tried to look back at the wing.

“I fly and am super strong, and so does my cousin.” She replied with a look and wave over to her cousin. Clark smiled and waved back.

“Mike, the first bridge is coming up.” The co-pilot yelled. “Either ditch or listen to the woman!”

Kara looked ahead and saw the bridge was shimmering in a golden-green mist. “It’s ok, the bridge is out of phase so we’ll pass right through it.” She assured them.

The captain ignored her and tried to add power to the engines to give themselves more lift by instinct. The frozen blades screamed in protest and began to break apart.

“Stop trying to power through.” Tony ordered them as he took command of the frequency they were using. “When Supergirl and Superman put out the fires, they froze the blades. All you are doing is shattering your engines into little pieces.”

The captain reluctantly stopped pulling back on the controls and trying to power up the engines. “We’re going hit.” One of the co-pilots screamed as the plane managed to graze the top of the bridge, but no impact occurred. The engines passed right through the top support cables, the plane didn’t even shutter when it passed by. “What the Hell? We missed?” The first bridge was just over three hundred feet tall. The plane instruments told him they were at two hundred and eighty feet.

“You didn’t.” Tony confirmed for them. “Team Flash made the bridge miss you.” In the background she heard Cisco instructing Barry on how fast to vibrate the next bridge to phase it.

“We’re slowly rising.” The other pilot confirmed, “Three hundred feet, and climbing slowly.”

“Roger that Flight 351.” The air traffic controller confirmed. “We’re seeing it, but we don’t believe it here either.”

“What do we do?” The captain asked still in shock.

“Sit back and close your eyes.” Kara told them. “The next bridge is much taller and if we try and miss it too many of your passengers could be hurt.” The next bridge was much bigger, and taller. Its towers were over six hundred feet high. “We are going to lift slowly and Flash is going to do the same thing to this bridge that Loki did to the first. Once we are clear of that bridge we will gently turn you around and head for the airport and put you down where ever they tell us to.” The bridge was coming up fast as it wasn’t that far down river from the first one.

“We’re going to hit that bridge head on.” The co-pilot cried out. “You better be right about Flash getting the bridge out of the way.”

“It’s phased.” She reminded them as the plane crashed straight through the much bigger bridge. Inside the plane people were screaming in panic but the lack of decompression had people dashing to the windows. They couldn’t see Kara or Clark under the wings but they could see they should have hit the bridge. There were huge cries of horror, disbelief, and relief as passengers who were still confused were unsure how to respond.

“Supergirl, was it?” The air-traffic controller asked uncertainly. “Do you need a runway?”

“Yes, if you can clear the airspace that would be good. We can bring it in slow enough that we don’t need to bleed off any speed, but we will need to bring it in on a glide path so the passengers are not hurt, rather than just doing a vertical landing the airframe is not designed for.” She paused as she readjusted her grip. “It would help if the passengers weren’t moving around so much.”

The captain reached for his microphone switch and snapped it on, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please return to your seats.” The captain’s shaky voice came over the loud speaker. “We are returning to the airport with the help of Team Flash from Central City. We are out of danger, but we requested that passengers stay in their seats and not shift the weight of the plane too much while they bring us back down.”

The passengers were nervous, but quickly calmed down when, despite the slow movement of the plane they weren’t falling out of the sky. It also helped that most of the people onboard knew who The Flash was. While he was a Central City based hero, his actions still made national and even international news on a regular basis. It took several minutes, but the flight crew got everyone settled and buckled back into their seats.

Tony geared up and flew to the plane as Kara, and Clark, rounded to line up with the runway. The pilots and passengers finally saw one of their heroes, as Iron Man flew by at window level, and waved to the men inside. To help calm everyone he patched his voice into the plane comm system. “Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for flying with Flash Airways.” He joked in a calm voice. “We’ll be landing in a few minutes so buckle up and enjoy the ride. Oh, and if you could extend your landing gear, that would help with a much better landing experience.”

“I forgot about that.” Kara admitted only realizing the passengers could hear her after she had spoken. “Last plane I landed was a water landing, and we didn’t need it.”

“I forgot too. My last plane landing was actual a space plane, and a vertical landing in a field.” Clark admitted softly.

“Amateurs,” Tony snarked at them, “Follow my tail and I’ll lead you in on the best glide path.” Kara knew JARVIS would have calculated the best speed and level of decent to keep the plane, and passengers safe. Several of the passengers had nervously laughed at the snarking, but overall they seemed to be bracing for impact.

“Just don’t blast “Highway to Hell’ and I’m willing.” She chuckled, still aware the passengers could hear them.

“That happens to be a great song.” Tony snapped back defensively.

“Not at the moment.” Loki added as he shimmered into being on the end of the runway.

The pilots in the cockpit just let the trash talking rollover them as they watch the super slow landing of the plane glide in, like it was on slow-motion autopilot. With both engines out there was no forward momentum to bleed off, and the plane came to a stop almost immediately once they gently glided the plane onto the runway.

“Tower… where would you like us to park the plane?” Tony asked through the comms.

“If you could move it to the edge of the airfield, but off the runway, that would be great Team Flash.” The Tower responded. In the background there were huge cheers going up in the tower from all the people who had been sure they were going to be dealing with a huge loss of life, instead having a plane full of survivors. “The emergency vehicles are situated over on the east side of the airfield as you can see from their flashing lights. They will wait for you to bring the plane to them.” The flashing lights of the emergency vehicles made directing the plane to them easy. Kara and Clark used the ‘roadways’ to drive the plane over to the side, closest to emergency personnel.

As the emergency trucked swarmed the plane the group of heroes regrouped near the nose on the tarmac. “Well, that was fun.” Tony chuckled as he lifted the face plate of his armor.

The TV News crews were already lined up along the fence with their long range cameras facing the group as Barry arrived beside them. “I could do with less of that type of excitement.” He admitted with a bit of a gasp. “Phasing a whole bridge is hard work!”

“The news crews got great footage of both Supers landing the plane, and following Tony in.” Cisco’s voice told them over the comms. “They also have cell phone footage already of the plane cruising through both bridges!”

Barry looked surprised. “Normally we are long gone before the News gets to us. I’m usually on scene as a CSI by the time they are set up and filming.”

“News 14 is only three blocks from the Keystone Airport.” Wally, who was the most familiar with Keystone City, reminded him. News 14 was the local news for the city, but with something this big, it would be going national in seconds as every news channel in the western world tuned in to see metas in action.

Kara turned her ear towards the TV Crews. “Early reports are saying that Team Flash from Central City saved the plane. The Flash himself is now here talking to the others at the base of the plane as passengers are about to disembark. Reports are there are some bumps and bruises, but no one was seriously hurt.” She listened a little harder for a moment. “One of the news crews had patched into the airport internal security communications network and heard the end of our transmissions. That’s where they are getting most of the information for these early reports.”

The group watched as the doors slowly opened and the frightened and scared passengers were being lead off the plane by the crews with the ladder trucks. “It might help if you could greet them at the bottom, Barry.” Kara suggested softly. “They are scared, and seeing you would help them since they have heard of you. We’re still strangers.”

Barry shook his head. “I never get close to the people I save afterwards. I might run into them later, and they might recognize me.”

Kara laughed softly, Clark, and Loki joined her. “They won’t, they are too traumatized right now to see beyond the mask.” Loki reminded him. “They’ll remember you a full foot taller among other things.”

Kara pulled on his arm gently. “Come on, try it with me.”

Loki, Clark, and Tony followed a little behind as Barry and Kara got to the bottom of the stairs first. The first responders were the first to greet the heroes with handshakes. As the passengers came down, people were excited to meet The Flash in person, especially the kids. The experience of meeting a real live Superhero quickly wiped away the fear of the scary flight from their immediate concerns. The rest of the heroes were a little further back, but the responders and passengers got a chance to approach them. Not that many of the people were brave enough to come to Tony in his robot looking suit, or Loki in his black leather armor with his dark green cloak. Clark was soon pulled to stand beside Kara as the people learned that the two Supers had been flying the plane.

It was as the last of the passengers and the crew members were coming down the stairs that Barry got a signal on his comm saying there was a call on his cell being patched through.

“Not taking this one for you, bro.” Cisco told him as he popped a lollypop in his mouth. “No way… No how!” That was the only warning Barry got before a very irate voice came through his earpiece.

“Barry, would you care to tell me why are you seem to be standing next to a flying guy and girl, another some sort of fully armored robot, and yet another person who that looks like a member of the League of Assassins… LIVE ON NATIONAL TV?” Oliver’s voice snapped at him. “Make that International TV,” as Felicity pointed to the next monitor that had the news feed from London.

“They’re friends visiting from out-of-town. They helped me save a bunch of people from a plane crash. It’s not like I can save a plane on my own.” Barry replied uncertainly. His voice sounded like he was being scolded by a parental figure to Loki. The voice on the other end was certainly using a tone he associated with Odin, dripping with distain and disappointment.

“We’re coming over.” Oliver snarled. “We’ll be there in about three hours.” The call dropped as Barry looked at the others nervously.

“Who was that?” Kara asked curiously. Barry looked apprehensive, but he just shrugged good-naturedly.

“That was Oliver Queen.” He whispered to her with a wince. He’d hoped to do their introductions on better terms. Oliver wasn’t a metahuman, but he had taken Barry’s powers and abilities in stride. They had teamed up a few times, but Oliver was always tense when Barry was in Starling City. That was mostly because something always seemed to be very wrong when Barry was in Starling City.

“Ah, the knock-off me with Legolas’s skill set,” Tony smirked as he remembered hearing about Oliver Queen from Kara after Barry had returned to his Earth, “And of course being a rip-off, he has no degrees in science or anything really useful.”

Barry face-palmed his forehead into his hands, “Oh God, this is going to be horrible,” He groaned as he imagined Oliver’s Alpha personality and Tony’s in the same room together. He could only imagine a powder keg exploding.

“If you keep praying to me like that, and I can make it worse.” Loki added with an evil smile.

Barry snorted and shook his head. “No, I really don’t think you-”

Kara placed her hand over Barry’s mouth tightly, holding his head still with her other hand so he couldn’t try and dislodge it. “ _DO NOT challenge the God of Mischief to make things worse_. He would be duty-bound to try.” She whispered seriously in his ear. Barry’s eyes widened and he slowly tried to nod his head. She lessened her hold enough to allow that much movement. She carefully moved her hands away and took a step back.

Barry took a moment and rethought how to say what he meant. “Green Arrow can be a… little intense.” He began uncertainly, his imagination now adding Loki the _GOD of Mischief_ into that volatile mixture and he was wondering if Central City would be standing tomorrow.

“ _A little intense_ ,” Cisco’s voice cut across everyone’s comms. “That’s like saying the ocean can be a _little_ wet.” He continued to scoff quietly muttering about how intense Oliver could be, though only Kara and Clark could hear him clearly.

Loki raised a brow toward Barry who looked so sheepish that even his mask couldn’t hide his feelings from everyone around him. Kara couldn’t help it, she snorted. That set Tony off, and the others soon followed, everyone but Barry, who knew it wasn’t actually going to be a fun visit from his friend.

Felicity Smock had been texting with Barry. From the speed of the incoming texts (Felicity was having to decipher some of what he wrote, because the phone he was using wasn’t keeping up with his typing speed), the flying heroes were Kara and her cousin Kal El, who went by the name Clark. Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, was with them. The last member of the rescue team was also an alien, but from a different planet, he was known as Loki.

She of course had talked to Barry several times about Kara and her cousin. She also knew a little bit about Loki. Barry had said he was dead, but obviously he had been incorrect about that. He’d also explained about Tony Stark. She’d been promised a chance to buy the rights to manufacturing the StArk Reactor **™** , even agreeing to donate twenty percent of actual profits on behalf of Queen Consolidating, as long as a Queen family member remained on the board of the company as CEO. If they sold or lost the seat, the StArk Reactor right reverted back to STAR Labs.

That clause of sale had helped to keep the company from being taken over by a rival of the Queen family named Slade Wilson (aka as Deathstroke,) and his front man Isabel Rochev. It hadn’t managed to save Moira Queen from being killed by Wilson, but it had stopped the company from being bought out. A few of the original board members sold their shares due to Slade’s promises to kill them if they didn’t. The amount of money the plans to build the reactor was projected to make, even with the philanthropic promise made a few of them sell the shares at a higher rate to someone else before Slade could get to them. Ray Palmer had managed to buy up a lot of those shares in the commotion. Ray, unlike the gutless board members, had the balls to stand up to Slade’s minions. With help from Team Arrow, he had lived. His tech helped him to escape a few times when people working for Slade had sought to intimidate, or abduct him. The Atom suit allowed him to slip out of two different kidnapping attempts before Slade was defeated.

Ray managed to buy up the rest of the minority of the stock when Isabel Rochev had died in an ‘accident’ shortly after the failed takeover. She had been running from ‘Green Arrow’ and had a car accident. Her blood alcohol level had been altered by Felicity when she hacked the lab results and made to look like she had been driving drunk.

Ray and Oliver had come to an agreement about where the company should go, and its path forward. Until he had left with the Legend of Tomorrow, Ray had basically run the company for Oliver, with Felicity as his assistant. With Ray out of touch at the moment he’d left his shares of the company in her hands so she was actually running Queen Consolidated and Team Arrow. She rarely got enough sleep these days, and she couldn’t wait for Ray to get back and retake control of Queen Consolidating.

Felicity was a computer geek. She had been all her life. Being a very pretty blonde computer geek meant that she had been chatted up by tons of other computer geeks in her life. That was at least when they could gather the courage to approach in the first place.

Multiverse theory had of course come up by the comic book fans, along with time travel. Knowing that time travel was possible, the multiverse idea didn’t surprise her as much as it would have before meeting Barry Allen. So the idea that they were aliens wasn’t as surprising to her as much either. Part of her mind knew it was possible even before she knew about Supergirl. Mathematics made the possibility of Earth being the only planet to have the right conditions for life in the universe unlikely. Of course that didn’t mean that aliens had the ability to travel the distance between solar systems any more than they could, so she hadn’t believed in ‘little grey’ or ‘green men’ stories.

After Barry’s adventure on Earth 617 last year she’d learned differently, but as with everything that happened to Barry she had taken a deep breath and just accepted the shift in her awareness of the universe. However the _where_ Kara and Loki came from, and _what_ Loki _was_ did surprise her! The _God of Mischief, Magic and Lies_ from _Asgard_ , a real Norse mythology character in the flesh!

Loptr was one character she knew well. He was a fan favorite with game developers as both a villain and a good guy helping humanity while playing tricks at the same time. She’d been fascinated in the history of Norse gods after getting interested in the TV show Stargate: SG-1, and several games she had played as a teenager. The Stargate Loptr wasn’t as good as most, but their explanation of the Asgardian race had fit well with their show premise. She had wanted the ‘true’ story, and had read the myths. She loved the stories and poems.

She also agreed with Barry’s assessment that Oliver was about to take on someone that would not take his attitude issues lying down. In fact Loki was likely to throw it back in Oliver’s face with both pleasure and prejudice.

“Oliver, you need to calm down NOW!” She finally snapped at him. He’d been pacing back and forth on the small private Cessna plane that belonged to Queen Consolidating. His quiet brooding wasn’t bothering her at all. She was so used to it that it didn’t even register as happening half the time. “Barry has texted me to tell me who and what they are. You are going to get your butt kicked if you walk in there arrows blazing.”

Oliver snapped around a glared at her but he folded his arms and waited for her to continue. She knew the stance meant he was actually listening. “Unlike you, I have actually spoken to Barry regularly, and I knew who the blonde was.” She reminded him with a glare of her own.

Oliver turned to look at her. “She flies and wears armor. Why have I never heard of her before?”

Felicity smiled innocently, “Because you weren’t listening when I told you about her last year.”

Oliver glared even more harshly. “You never said she flew.”

“Didn’t I?” Felicity pretended to think while tapping her nails against her lower lip. “Must have been because I was more impressed that she holds three Masters degrees, is a computer genius with the most powerful AI on their planet, she’s a princess, and…” She trailed off as Oliver uncrossed his arms, had closed his eyes, and was pinching his nose in frustration. She knew he now was aware of why he didn’t know about her. He’d likely tuned her out as she told him about how smart she was, how powerful her computer was, and her status. “That was much more important to me than she was a humanoid alien, and a warrior of Asgard, that can fly.” She admitted with a beaming innocent smile. “Besides she lives on a different Earth. What were the chances of me getting to meet her?”

“Obviously likely considering she’s a friend of Barry’s.” Oliver muttered before everything she said had registered in his mind. His head snapped up and he glared at her. “What do you mean a different Earth?”

Felicity knew he knew nothing about multiverse theory. “This might seem like it is out of a comic book, but remember Barry is basically the definition of a comic book superhero.”

Oliver clenched him jaw, making his neck flex. It was a warning he was about to lose him temper. “So basically there are millions of Earths in existence. We don’t interact with each other because we all vibrate at different levels. Zoom, that speedster that was tormenting Barry and killed his dad, was from another Earth and was coming through the portals from Earth two. And yes, we did send a condolence card about his dad. You were still recovering from broken ribs, again, so I went to the funeral for us all. Diggle went with me.” She added as his head snapped up when she reminded him about the death of Barry’s dad.

She was rambling on so fast that Oliver couldn’t get a word in. He started to relax his stance a bit. He’d known about Zoom, but as it had been a speedster, so he’d left it to Barry. He had monitored the situation in Central City in case the situation got out of hand, and he’d have offered to help his friend. He’d felt guilty when he hadn’t been able to make the funeral.

“Once someone breaches the barrier between the different Earths, you can end up on a different one. Barry did last year when he was trying to go faster and not go back in time. And he managed to end up on Supergirl’s Earth, Earth 617.”

“617?” He managed to ask when she took a breath.

“That’s the difference between our Earth and hers. Though hers is actual Earth 38 and she is living on Earth 617, when she’s not on Asgard, which is what I really needed to talk to you about. You need to treat the assassin dressed guy nicely, because he isn’t from the League of Assassins as you thought. He’s Loptr of Asgard; a Prince, warrior and the God of Mischief, Magic and Lies.” She finally stopped and waited for Oliver to process what she had just said.

“He’s a _what_?” Oliver scoffed.

“He’s an Asgardian of Asgard, a Prince, and a member of the Norse Pantheon of Asgard.” She reiterated. “He is the embodiment of Mischief, Magic and Lies.”

“The Viking gods,” Oliver questioned incredulously, “He’s a Viking god?”

“Yes, though he goes by Loki in his own Earth Universe, rather than Loptr. He’s actually Odin’s adopted son rather than his adopted brother, added bonus, he has no kids, and not because they were killed, he never had them to start with. Barry was animate that we don’t mention the horse child, and the wolf one either.” She told him pointedly.

Oliver ignored the advice, having no idea what she was talking about. “What about the other flying one with the same symbol on his chest?” Oliver continued as if what she had said made any sense to him at all.

“That’s Superman, he’s Supergirl’s cousin. He’s from her home Earth 38. He lives there.” She explained as if he’d actually followed all for her rabbling without a flow chart.

“Why are they here?” He asked slowly and with his jaw tensing once more.

“Kara can’t leave Earth 617 to go back to Earth 38. Powerful beings called _The Norns_ won’t let her.” Felicity explained quickly. “Similarly they won’t allow her cousin to cross over to Earth 617, but both are allowed here, so Barry is hosting a reunion between the cousins Kara and Clark, as a sort of thank you to Kara for helping him return home in hours, rather than days, weeks, or never. She had no way to contact her cousin, and her cousin had no idea she survived the explosion of their planet.”

It was only because Oliver was used to her prattle that he understood the words even if the sentence structure seemed as if she was speaking a different language at times. He missed the days when an arrow killed his enemies. Once Barry Allen had entered his life, it had gotten more complicated. As far as Oliver was concerned, as much as he liked Barry, he didn’t want him in his city. Starling City had enough issues. It didn’t need Barry’s brand of crazies following him to Oliver’s territory.

Oliver’s enemies were humans. Skilled humans, and sometimes drugged up to the gills with Mirakuru (a Japanese WWII super-soldier serum that made people insane and very violent), but they were still humans. Barry’s enemies weren’t anyways human. He’d been filmed fighting a humanoid shark for Christ’s sake! The metas from the explosion that had created Barry had made some strange things happen, and until recently they had been limited to the area around Central City. Now two years later, metas were beginning to pop up all over the country. According to the files ARGUS kept, most had connections to Central City. They had moved in the past two years, or had only been passing through Central City the night of the Accelerator explosion.

Oliver held up his hand and just walked away from her toward the cockpit where his sister Thea Queen (aka Speedy) and his friend Diggle were flying the plane. Exploding planets was where he drew the line. Barry was going to get an earful when Oliver got him alone.

“Oh and Tony Stark is here too, the guy who actually designed the StArk Reactor that Barry and the rest of STAR Labs has been working on.” Felicity added a little louder so he could hear her, “The clean cold fusion reactor.”

Oliver stopped and turned. “He was the robot? That was the armor he built and has enough armaments designed to level a town full of terrorists?” He looked angrier than before and that was impressive to Felicity. She had rarely seen him this livid. She knew he had paid attention to Tony because he had been human, and his project was going to make Queen Consolidating a huge amount of money. He had also been impressed with the requirement of the donations to a charity of his choice.

“Yeeees,” she drawled carefully as she sat further back in her seat. “He’s also has teamed up with Supergirl, who on her own has freeze breath, laser beams out of her eyes, flies, and can lift several hundred tons, and not break a sweat doing it. So can the cousin I assume.”

“I am going to kill him.” He muttered as he walked up to the cockpit. Fifteen seconds later Thea Queen, in her Speedy outfit, came out and sat next to Felicity.

“Why is Ollie so upset?” She whispered to the smug blonde. She was bewildered by the broody mess that her brother had become. When they had come aboard she’d gone to the cockpit to get away from him. He was already in a nasty mood on the way to the airport.

“He just learned how small a fish he is in an ocean he wasn’t even aware of existed.” Felicity answered as she texted Barry back about how Oliver took the news of his guests. Speedy, not understanding the implications just shrugged, and accepted that Barry was likely going to get shot again. Oliver seemed to think that poking holes in Barry was the only way to teach him anything.

Back in Central City, Barry, quickly showed Kara what Felicity had written. “He took it about as well as I expected.” He’d need to be prepared to be shot again, repeatedly.

Kara looked concerned until Barry explained what Felicity meant. “So, it won’t be fatal when he shoots you?”

Barry shook his head and absently rubbed his shoulder where Oliver had managed to shoot him during that first training exercise. “No, but even with my scans showing I healed perfectly, I sometimes can feel my shoulder ache when he gets mad at me.” Loki, who was sitting beside Kara, read the text and nodded thoughtfully. Loki knew instantly what Barry was referring to. He was talking of phantom pain from the lesson he had learned from this ‘Oliver’.

“Barry has the experience you require to carry on with to complete your re-training.” He told her softly. The human was actual the perfect person for her to relate the aftermath of her injury to. Like her, he healed quickly, and did not have time to process the damage before it was already fixed. He was forced to confront his attacker once more. That his attacker seemed to be one he called a friend also was a bonus in his estimation. He wasn’t actually happy about that. Something about Barry made him uncomfortable, but as her Battle-Master, Kara’s experiences and relationship with Barry would be useful, so he had to bury that unease. “Perhaps you should consider talking with him about how he dealt with such a battle wounds.”

Barry looked confused. “I get hurt all the time. It’s just part of being human. I heal super-fast now. A badly broken arm can be healed in just a few hours.”

Kara bit the inside of her cheek. “I was wounded by a magical weapon recently, and as it is the first time I have been wounded in such a way. I have to complete a retraining exercise so I won’t finch in battle.” She explained quietly to Barry without looking at Loki. She squeezed his hand to let him know she didn’t blame him.

Tony snorted at the glossing over of details. “You were nearly killed by that weapon. It was only because Loki left the way he did, leaving the stone and a hole for the sunlight to pour through, that you survived long enough for me to heal you.” He said before taking a drink from the glass of scotch he’d procured since they arrived back at the lab. He sat across from the group and waited to see what would happen. Kara had done similar shit to him when he was learning to change his thinking from that of a civilian to a warrior mindset. He was forcing her to recall and confront the memory of her injury.

“Loki?” Barry questioned with a touch of alarm in his voice. His head snapped over to stare at the God of Mischief in disbelief. Clark too was looking at Loki with a touch of surprise and anger.

“Mind control; Loki fought it and saved Kara’s life by exposing her to sunlight and leaving a healing stone.” Tony reiterated smoothly, so the important facts wouldn’t be lost.

Kara closed her eyes and held Loki’s hand tightly. They still hadn’t cleared the air between them and she didn’t want to do it right then in front of everyone. “That’s why he is also the best person to help train me from flinching when faced with the weapon. Unlike anyone who will wield it against me in the future, Loki will be the best at handling it because it was designed for him.”

Clark was even more alarmed now. “What do you mean in the future?” He demanded. “You have the weapon locked up don’t you?”

Kara shook her head. “SHIELD, the organization that defends Earth 617; they have control of it.”

Clark looked torn but continued on. “From my experience the government can’t be trusted to not use it against you in the future, and if not them, someone who will steal it from them.”

Kara nodded without lifting her head. “I know.” She replied with a soft, flat tone.

“What _My Kara_ is failing to mention is that we took an even more powerful device away from them. If we had taken the scepter as well, we would have likely pushed the mortals too far.” Loki added with a bored sounding tone, but Kara could feel his tension in his hand. He was like a taunt cable, just about to snap.

Tony saluted Loki’s words. “That’s true. The Tesseract had the power to make the Arc Reactor look like a battery to power a child’s toy. The Tesseract could have powered every city on the planet, if SHIELD could have harnessed it properly, instead of causing self-imploding portals into unknown space.”

Kara shrugged as if unconcerned. “Leaving them a two handed weapon designed to be used by a person as strong as the strongest human alive, and taller than most, seemed a small price.”

Clark could see the logic, but he still was uncomfortable at the idea that she had left such a weapon in the hands of the government. At least she didn’t have to be concerned by Kryptonate. Any fool could use that if they knew what it was.

Barry was having similar thoughts, though in his case he couldn’t keep the weapons that could be used against him out of the hands of those who wanted to hurt him. All it took was an engineering degree and knowledge of cold technology. Or in the case of Snart, all it had taken was getting to Cisco and threatening his brother so he would build it for him.

Clark sighed and sat forward. “I’m sorry. This is so strange for me. I know I can’t trust any government on my Earth to hold any weapon that can be used against me.” Everyone turned to stare at him as he looked sad. Kara walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder in support before he continued to explain. “I’m used to being the only protector on my Earth, and now I have a family member who is technically older than I am, but you are also younger than me. It is strange to know I can’t protect you.” He clarified softly. “I know how far I can trust my own Earth’s governments, and I fear for you. My only consolation is they don’t have access to Kryptonate.”

“What exactly does this Kryptonate do to you?” Loki asked with great curiosity and a healthy dose of dread for Kara.

“It depends on the color.” Clark explained. “Green Kryptonate can kill me. It makes me weak immediately. Weaker than an infant, breathing becomes difficult and I can barely stand. It’s immediate once it is within its radiation range.” He acknowledged with a tight frown. Around the room everyone was amazed at the speed and effect the space rock had on him. Even Loki was startled by the effect. Magic could do such things, but radiation usually required time to affect the body. This was sounding more like a magical substance, and not a naturally occurring thing caused by the explosion.

“Red increases my aggression and lowers my ability to think clearly. It’s like being drunk I’m told.” He continued his clarification of the possible symptoms. “I have hurt people while under its affects.” He confessed shamefully.

“You mentioned other colors?” Loki pressed, his scowl deepening and his voice adding a growling edge to it. Kara squeezed his hand to remind him not to be aggressive with Clark. It wasn’t his fault these rocks existed.

“I have made sure to wear a lead lined suit when handling anything with a Kryptonate signature.” He told them somberly. Loki looked a little relived there was a simple barrier that could be constructed. “I have seen blue, gold, white, silver, lavender, and one in a multi colored gem state.” Clark carefully listed off. His facial expression showed just how carefully he was going through the list, making sure he didn’t forget any he had seen to date.

“The STAR Labs on my Earth has actually built a detector for me, it’s fitted to my wrist.” He held up his watch and showed the slim band underneath. It was obvious that it held some type of tech at a small glance, but the watch band covered it perfectly. “It warns me when there is Kryptonate close by. It’s one of the ways I know that the government has been experimenting with the bit they have. They have built several rooms with Kryptonate lining and an emitter, basically a prison for me, or anyone who is like me.” His eyes flickered over to Kara. In a way he was happy it was Flash who had attempted to contact him first rather than Kara herself. He’d have hated to find out about her after the DEO or CADMUS had gotten ahold of her.

“Have you been able to destRay these stones?” Loki pushed but his tone was once more neutral sounding. Like Clark, Loki didn’t like that the stone existed at all, even if they were in a different Multiverse. Knowing the lead blocked the radiation signature meant he could devise a spell that could protect Kara, but it would need to be recast often. He’d have to enchant a piece of armor or jewelry like the pendent to protect her. Or cast a special spell on her helmet that will make the spell cover her and filter any particles in the air when she donned the headgear. It would be labor intensive to make a special spell for a substance he had never interacted with, and he would need a sample to make it effective. In his mind he was already crafting such an enchantment.

Clark shook his head slowly. “DestRaying them just makes the pieces smaller and if inhaled, the effects last much longer, or in the case of the green Kryptonate more deadly.” Loki’s mind instantly insisted on the breathing filter being the second most important part of the spell.

Loki settled back and relaxed his posture purposefully. Clark locking the pieces up was the best he could do in his situation. It wasn’t the best solution. Clark had placed his fortress in the Arctic Circle. His was more accessible than Kara’s, if he’d been able to walk to the place he’d accidentally created it. Once Clark went back to his Earth, Loki would have to follow and get a sample of these stones.

“Have your militaries managed to weaponized the stones?” Tony asked quietly. He was always concerned about the military’s abilities to adapt his tech into weapons of mass destruction, especially now that he’d stopped making them himself for them.

Clark nodded his head. “So far they have only been able to make knives or swords edged with it. Kryptonate is fairly brittle. Bullets with the tips made of it just shatters as they leave the barrel.” His explanation seemed to be helping alleviate some of the fears that they could be used offensively against the both of them.

“If I’m that close I know to avoid the bladed weapons, because I can feel the effects before they are close enough to be effective.” Clark continued to reveal. “They haven’t yet decided to try and place the tiny amount they have into a missile and shoot me. So far it also doesn’t seem to affect humans, though orange temporarily seem to give powers to animals.” Clark shook his head. “A super powered deer firing back at hunters was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever had to deal with.” Luckily it hadn’t been rutting season and it had been a doe, not a buck. Still the doe had shot a car on the road with heat vision so she and her fawn could cross the road safely.

The group couldn’t help but laugh at the image. It helped to break some of the tension that had built-up. It was a scary prospect to know that there was a simple rock out there that could kill their friends.

“What’s the distance you can detect it; with, and without a device?” Tony asked, wondering if he could increase the distance of the detection.

“Depends on if it’s in a lead lined case or not. If it’s hidden, I can't detect it at all without the device. If it’s in the open, I can detect it from upwards of thirty feet.” He shrugged, though his body gave away just how much the subject distressed him. “Depends on how irradiated the piece is, and what type it is. Some of the colors don’t radiate any radiation, and the effects seem to be inert. With the device it doesn’t seem to matter the type, or how strong it is. I can detect it at a quarter of a mile.”

Caitlyn had been listening intently. She really wanted blood and kryptonate samples to play with so she could see what effects they had on each other. She’d never seen radiation that reacted to a specific type of DNA and not everything else around it. The specific reactions based on color also fascinated her.

Loki on the other hand was getting more concerned. “You’ve never touched the pieces with bare skin have you?”

Clark shook his head. “I’ve only been in direct contact with the green and red while I was trying to get it away, or off of me, and only once it was inhaled, the red, but not on purpose.” He admitted. “The effects became stronger as I touched them. I have made sure to never touch the stuff directly if possible.”

Loki looked thoughtful. “The different colors are likely manifestations of radiation from magic. It is likely the visible spectrum of the effects. Like a snake colors, warning of a specific danger. The brighter colors mean deadly danger; stay away. The lighter colors would indicate less potent dangers. My concerns have more to do with the concentration of the effects to only Kryptonians.”

Clark nodded slowly. “I know of several other aliens on my Earth, and none of them have had ill effects from the Kryptonate.” He admitted slowly as he thought over the effects the rocks had on his friends. “Certainly there have never been any effects on Lois or Jimmy.” Both of them had been to the fortress, and Lois had on at least one occasion saved him by removing the Kryptonate from the room he was in with her bare hands.

Loki looked over at Kara with somber concern. “It is likely the stones are part of the Heart of Krypton. That is why it only affects Kryptonians. The magic of the planet was tuned to your race. No others would be affected unless they also shared DNA from an attuned member of your race.”

Clark nodded again with a smile. “That would explain why the Daxamite that recent landed on my earth was unaffected by the Kryptonate room the DEO developed. He arrived in a Kryptonian pod so they had assumed he was Kryptonian at first.”

“I’d lock him up permanently if I were you.” Kara snapped with flashing eyes. “The whole race is an affront to Rao.”

Everyone turned to stare at such a racist remark coming from her. Clark was the most scandalized of the group.

“Mon El might be a little irresponsible, but he’s not a bad guy. He was a palace guard, and the prince himself shoved him in the pod of the visiting ambassador to get him away from the planet as their world died because ours exploded and killed them too.” Clark replied with a hint of anger in his voice as he defended the young man he had befriended. “I know about their reputation.” He continued harshly. “The image of my father was much of the same opinion you seem to share. I make up my own mind about people based on how they treat others. My father was also of the opinion that I should rule over humans. I disagreed with him on that too.”

Loki’s look of disappointment stopped her from snapping back about how he’d never had to deal with the stories she had. As a child, her mother would come home and complain about how that day’s Daxamite had broken this law, or that one. She would tell Kara how wonderful it was that Krypton had the Phantom Zone now, instead of throwing the prisoners onto a different planet to start over, they were actually incarcerated.

Over the centuries, Daxam had created a Rayal Family out of the original prisoners sent to Daxam over several centuries prior. They had built a world government from it, making them a legitimate government that Krypton had to deal with. They didn’t have the self-control the Kryptonians did. They didn’t have the breeding Krypton did. They were inferior!

“Your planets sound much the same as Asgard and Jötunheim; does it not?” He asked at a whisper. In the quiet of the room his voice carried the sound to everyone in their tight group.

Kara’s back snapped straight in a defensive posture. She wanted to rail about how it wasn’t the same. That unlike Jötunheim the Daxamites had earned their reputations. The prince in particular had been known as what best translated into English as “The Frat boy of the Universe”. As bad as Loki’s comment hurt, it was Tony’s look of betrayal that really stung at that moment.

“You know, I really thought you were better than this Kara.” He looked away from her and got up to pour himself another drink. Darcy looked just as hurt and pointedly got up and joined Tony and poured herself a drink. She was being uncharacteristically quiet, and Tony decided to watch the girl as she downed a drink that even he would have second thoughts of shooting all at once.

Team Flash just looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Kara looked hurt and Loki ached to reach out and sooth her, but she had always needed to be pushed to see things from other perspectives when she was entrenched in a way of thinking. Getting her to re-evaluate things was always hard when she was sure she was right. He knew going to her now would be counter-productive, he’d learned the best way to get her to reflect was to confront her with facts and then let her think it through.

Barry finally broke the silence with a question. “For those out of the loop, who and what are Daxamites?”

“Our home system of Rao had two livable planets. Of the two, Krypton was more stable and had a better chance at sustaining life.” Clark explained quietly. Kara seemed to be cowed so he felt he should keep the conversation going to draw attention off her. “It was decided after about two generations that Daxam would be used as a penal colony. There was both a short and long term confinement. This was before we created the Phantom Zone, which is a pocket dimension that holds our Supermax and alien prisons.”

Kara was in fact paying attention. She added, “And we also had one other type, life prisons for those that were considered too dangerous for even the Supermax prison. They were also kept in small private prison cells within the Phantom Zone, but unconnected to the actual prison itself.”

“So Daxam was Krypton’s version of Australia,” Cisco questioned rapidly, now fascinated by the topic, “Before the Phantom Zone?”

“And the planet was used for a little longer… almost a hundred years or so. They had begun to create a central government by their descendants.” Clark told them from what he remembered from those lessons.

“And like on Earth they grew to be their own people.” Cisco concluded.

“Pretty much,” Clark replied. “Once the next couple of generations were born they were their own planet full of people with their own government and laws beginning to form. Krypton wasn’t fond of them. But other races accepted them and began trading, forcing Krypton to begin allowing them freedom, and stopping the use of the planet as a prison.”

“Elitists,” Cisco snorted.

Loki, who had been watching Kara war with her temper and her confusion, raised a brow at Cisco’s comment. Mortals tended to underestimate the worth of people and breeding. Those who were born in lower classes, while some could be more, most tended to gravitate to lesser vocations because it was easier to follow into a family business than to lift them up, and reach for more. There were always those with the talents and fortitude to raise themselves up, but most of the common folk didn’t understand the amount of work ‘elitists’ often did for the country. As one of those types of people he never would expect someone like Cisco to understand the magnitude of the decisions he had made, even as a child diplomat, for the people of Asgard. To be a Rayal was to serve, not to be a self-indulgent arse, though Loki knew many people who were such nobles.

“A superior culture,” Loki retorted sharply. “One born of laws and order, verses one made by the mighty over the weaker criminals and their children.”

Cisco scowled at the Prince. “Australia isn’t like that.” He snapped at him.

Loki snorted, “Not at present, but it has been several hundreds of years for that transformation to occur.”

Kara lightly threw herself back against the wall. She felt the wall give a little and winced before stopping herself from going through the cement wall completely. “The Daximites are still quite unruly. And then the war between our planets was started by them, thousands lost their lives!” She tried to justify her position, but even to her own ears that defense seemed hallow. She wasn’t surprised when it was countered, or by whom.

“Were, Kara,” Clark interrupted her. Kara stopped what she was going to say to look at him in confusion. “Their planet exploded too. Monel saw the planet being rained down on with meteorites from Krypton’s destruction from his pod. It took longer, but once the shockwave from Krypton hit the planet, it burned. The war has been over for two centuries. It’s time to let it go. Their world is just as devoid of life as ours is. As far as he known, Monel is the last survivor of his planet, just as we are.”

Kara’s mouth opened and closed several times before she closed her eyes. She felt a wave of pity for the Daxamite survivor. He had seen the same thing she had, her whole world dying in an instant. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even someone she considered a possible enemy. “Oh…” She trailed off.

Her memories threatened to overwhelm her again, the cold, the shaking of the shockwave as the ship forced her to sleep. She managed to push them aside when Loki approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder giving it a little squeeze to refocus her attention. Loki has seen these types of episodes before. Kara had been prone to them quite a bit when she was younger, now they tended to only surface when the topic of the explosion of Krypton was mentioned.

She gave him a small nod of acceptance. Clark began to relax a little when he heard her heartbeat begin to calm.

“Monel is like most men his age.” Clark explained to the rest of them as he watched the byplay and guessed at the cause of the reaction. He’d seen the video images of the explosion. His ship had recorded the event, but Clark didn’t have the same emotional attachment that Kara had to their home world. He toned down his attitude and refocused his attention to Cisco to give Kara some time to refocus. The calming heartbeat reassured him that Loki had known what Kara was experiencing and knew how to deal with it.

“He’s young and likes to party, but he is learning his limits. His physiology is slightly different. He seems to be allergic to lead. He has some of our strength, he can’t fly yet, but he can jump incredible distances, he has some of our speed, and he is immune to Kryptonate.”

Loki’s attention latched on to that last factoid. “Have you determined why?”

Clark shook his head. “I have no idea. I have only met him a few times. He’s staying in National City, but when he needs help learning to control a power I have stopped by to help him out.”

“So you are becoming friends with him?” Kara asked with a hint of curiosity.

Tony sighed with relief internally and put down his second drink. He was good at plenty of things. Helping people with emotional issues wasn’t one of them. Darcy had paused in taking a third shot, but unlike Tony who knew how to savor a drink, Darcy just took to shooting hers. She didn’t go to refill it this time.

Clark shrugged his shoulders. “He’s not interested in becoming a hero, but he doesn’t want to hurt anyone so I am helping him to learn how to control himself so he doesn’t.”

Loki shook his head in disagreement. “There is something wrong with his story. No Prince would give up their seat for a guard, even a prized honor guard member.”

“Thor would.” Kara countered softly.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Thor is an idiot, and even his friends would never take up the seat.” He reminded her, “Not even Sif. I don’t think even he would try to give up his seat in that type of situation except to give it to Mother, you or I.”

“So was the Daxamite Prince, according to rumors.” Kara retorted. “He was also considered to be extremely selfish.”

“Something Thor is not any longer, according to both you and Mother.” Loki countered. Kara gave in, her shoulder slumping and her arms wrapped around her waist in a defensive self-hug. She looked back towards Clark.

Clark nodded solemnly and agreed with Loki. “I agree, I don’t think he was a palace guard. He’ll tell me the real story when he is ready.”

Kara let them speculate about the Daxamite for a while. She turned her thoughts inward. She had always felt superior for her ability to see the conflict between Jötunheim and Asgard for what it was; a grudge match between two Alpha males unwilling to yield to the other. The Frost Giant King Laufey had been too proud to ask for the Heart of Jötunheim to be returned, and Odin to stubborn to hand it over, even though he knew their planet was dying without it.

She had also been more than a little arrogant, thinking herself above the mortals when she had first arrived on Earth. Physically she was superior. She knew that, same as Loki and Thor, or any of the other space-faring races were. Humans were such fragile beings comparatively. They made up for it with their adaptability and unpredictability.

Kara had been in awe of some of that resilience, and having Tony Stark as a friend certainly challenged her intellectually. In sheer genius, Tony outstripped her, as did Bruce Banner. If either of them had her early education, they would leave her in the dust in every way. As it stood she at times had no idea what they were discussing beyond basic concepts. She knew when she was in the lab with them on the helicarrier during Loki’s invasion that she was the dumbest one in the room. That was a new experience for her. She wandered a little away while they talked.

Now she was facing Tony’s scorn for being a bigot against her former enemies. Even Loki was looking at her with a hint of dissatisfaction earlier. It was literally a shock to her system to have to face their disappointment.

Tony and Loki both watched Kara’s face as she looked away. The troubled look on her face had both feeling a little conflicted. Both, had they known what the other was thinking, would agree that her reflection on her attitude was a good thing, but neither liked seeing her confused and looking hurt.

It was Barry who approached her first, though Clark was tempted to go to her, he just didn’t feel he knew her well enough to know what to say. Loki and Tony both felt they would not be the best at the moment.

“Hey, are you ok?” He asked her quietly.

Kara nodded slowly and answered quietly so as to not regain everyone’s attention. “Yeah, it’s just weird to think I’m as bad as the people on Asgard who hate the Jotun people. I just have so many memories of Mother telling us about how bad the Daxamite she had sentenced that day had been.” She tried to explain, but it sounded weak and childish.

Barry looked concerned as he answered her. He remembered that her mother had been a high court justice. She’d had to deal with the worst of the worst. Most of the Fort Rozz Supermax prison’s criminals were there because her mother had condemned them to near life-sentences. Even her own twin sister wasn’t spared. She had been sent to Fort Rozz along with all those who followed her.

“I can see why you would have a bad opinion of a people if all the exposure you’ve had has been through your mom’s stories based on the criminals she had sentenced.” He paused as she looked at him with an earnest expression. Barry felt a small push of hope rush his system for the first time since his father’s death.

He gave her a small self-depreciating smile. “It’s the same for some of the cops at CCPD. They only see the bad metahumans, so they didn’t trust The Flash at first. Iris’s first fiancé, Eddie Thawne, he even headed up a task force to take me down when I first started out. ”

Kara let Barry distract her from her self-doubt and self-reflection. “How did you change his mind?”

Barry looked sad as he remembered the events that lead to Eddie’s death. “He realized I wasn’t so bad once he knew it was me, but he died shortly after.” Kara placed her hand lightly on his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry.” She told him comfortingly. She felt bad for making him relive the pain.

Barry flashed a small smile at her before he continued, “He was kidnapped by Eobard because he didn’t want anything to happen to his grandfather, otherwise he wouldn‘t be born in the future. Iris wasn’t his grandmother though. We never did find out what happened between them.” He told her with a deep sigh. “He killed himself once he figured out who Eobard was. It caused a time paradox that can’t be fixed according to the Speedforce.”

Kara stared at him in surprise. “How can you be sure Iris hadn’t been his wife?” She finally asked. The very idea of killing himself so his grandson wouldn’t exist was sure to set Loki off on another mental rant, and she was sure he was listening in.

“The Time Vault’s original article was written by Iris West-Allen.” He reminded her. He’d of course told her that part.

Kara closed her eyes and nodded her head. He’d told her last year when he’d explained the situation with the fake Harrison Wells and becoming The Flash in the first place. He’d left out the part about Eddie before.

“As for the Daxamite, just think about it a little.” Barry suggested comfortingly. “I’m sure your mother didn’t mean for you to hate all of the Daxamites. She didn’t teach you to hate every race did she?”

Kara slowly shook her head. In fact Alura had taught her to look at situations from each side of an argument. As a judge she often had to weight each side of an argument. Rarely was the victim ever completely blameless. Often they too were criminals at the level that Alura worked at. Smugglers killing one another, criminal syndicates fighting for territory, only terrorists were the ones with innocent victims. Even the Daximites who came before Alura’s court had worked with criminal Kryptonians sometimes. It would take time to reflect on.

“I just have never heard of a Daxamite who wasn’t a criminal.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration. “Which is the same as Asgardians who have never even met a Jotun, but hate them anyway for some stupid war fought a millennia ago.”

Barry clapped her on the shoulder, keeping in mind what he learned of Clark’s reaction. Kara didn’t soften the blow as Clark would have, she just took the pat. Barry couldn’t help but see the difference in how they held themselves. Clark hunched and hid himself when he wore the human persona. When he had been in his ‘Superman costume’ He stood taller and prouder. Kara always stood that way, except for times like now, when she was hurt and embarrassed.

“It takes some time to re-adjust your thinking.” Barry confided. “It took me months to stop feeling like I was being confronted with an enemy when I saw Harrison Wells from Earth 2. My first reaction is still to get ready for an attack when he walks into a room unexpectedly.”

Kara nodded slowly. She had seen after a year of re-thinking his position even Thor would start to have a thought that was based on old prejudices. These days he was quick to dispel them. She wondered if it would take her that long without an example like Loki was to Thor to re-think her position on Daxamites. She inwardly sighed. At least as she worked on it she wouldn’t be confronted with the man. Now she only had to deal with having disappointed Tony and the others.

Clark had heard every word while they were talking. He agreed with Barry and could see the situation from Kara’s point of view. While he didn’t like the ingrained attitude, he did expect it. Monel had been expecting Clark to be a stuck up jerk because he was Kryptonian. Learning Clark had been a baby and grew up on Earth had allowed for a strange friendship to develop between them, when he was away from the DEO (Department of Extra-Normal Operations).

Clark very rarely went anywhere near Hank Henshaw, who was the head of that Department. It was only after Hank had allowed his personal friend, Jerimiah Danvers, to return home after trying to force him to work for CADMUS and had made the move to the DEO that Clark had even given the man the time of day.

CADMUS was an anti-alien black-ops department of the government originally. These days it was being run by Lex Luthor’s mother. It was originally a United States Government Special Research Project and was an ally of both DEO and the United States Army. Their work was to study any Alien Threats to the planet, and mainly the USA. With the addition of the Luthors, CADMUS had become very anti-alien, and had repeatedly tried to kill Superman, and many of the other alien species they had managed to find.

Separate from CADMUS the DEO had been created to follow Superman and other Alien Lifeforms on the planet and try to work with them on staying hidden, as long as they were peaceful. The government had been shocked to find out how many refugees they had on the planet from other places in the universe. It wouldn’t surprise Clark if many of the same aliens from his Earth were on this multiverse’s Earth too, but just as hidden. 

Monel had a job working in a local alien bar and was very happy with his lot as a bartender for right now. Clark could see that he had a bit of an adjustment to not being someone important. He was enjoying not having so much responsibility, but Clark was also sure he’d been looking for something more interesting to do soon. Clark hoped to get him to become National City’s hero. CatCo had downsized their newspaper division recently in part because their paper didn’t have a “Superman” to write about the way The Daily Planet did. Having Monel or even a small group of aliens fighting criminals would help National City. He hoped to steer him into that direction in the future.

The new alarm system clicked, letting Cisco know that the front door had been deactivated by a security code. A quick peak at the surveillance camera told him that Team Arrow was here. “Heads up,” He called out to Barry, “Big green is here and he’s pissed.”

Loki tensed for a second until he remembered that Hulk could not be on this Earth. Kara, for her part looked towards the voices that were starting to come through the halls.

“For the last time, Ollie, slow down and think for once.” Felicity was warning him. “If you get turned into a toad it’s going to be your own fault.”

Oliver finally stopped and glared at her. “I am capable of holding my tongue.”

Thea Queen snorted. “You just never do.” She snorted as she knocked his arm with her elbow.

Oliver rolled his eyes at his baby sister. “Why did I allow you to come with us again?”

“Because I was available to fly the plane,” She breezed by him and kept walking.

Felicity was looking beseechingly at him and he finally caved. “Fine, I’ll be mindful of who is in the room.”

Felicity beamed her bright smile at him and Oliver sighed internally. He hated backing down, but it was hard to fight her sometimes. In this case he knew she was right. It didn’t change the fact that he was pissed off that Barry had endangered the world by bringing aliens from different dimensions here.

Walking into the room filled with normally dress people, and one dangerous looking assassin leader, who was actually a Norse God, made Oliver blink. Somehow, even though he knew they were human-looking, seeing a young blonde, older slouched man in glasses, and Loki didn’t seem so strange.

Felicity had no issues and quickly bounded her way over to Kara and held out her hand. “I have been wanting to meet you so badly, ever since Barry told me all about you!” Kara couldn’t help but smile at the bubbly petite blonde.

“Thank you, I’ve wanted to meet you, too.” She replied, assuming the woman was actually Felicity. She couldn’t imagine anyone else on Team Arrow looking like an office worker could be anyone but Felicity Smock.

Speedy was grinning and had moved over to Loki. “So not from the League of Assassins?” She smirked at him.

Loki raised a brow in amusement. “If I was, would I be able to admit such a thing? Princes tend to hire assassins, not become ‘murderers for hire’.” She laughed and held out her hand to introduce herself.

Oliver took this all in as he slid up next to Barry, who had quickly stepped away from everyone else as Oliver entered the room. “You brought aliens from different dimensions. Really, Barry, like we don’t have enough issues on our own world.” He hissed at him.

Barry held up his hands defensively. “Gideon showed me this would be a good thing before I went.”

Oliver took a deep breath. “Show me.” He demanded sternly.

Barry quickly nodded and lead Oliver from the room. They walked quietly to Gideon’s room. Oliver had never actually entered the room before. He knew of it because Barry had told him, but each time he had been to STAR Labs he’d never actually remembered to ask to see it.

“Greeting’s, Mr. Queen.” Gideon said as they entered the room. “You will need me to tell you. If you go to face Ra's al Ghul, you will become Ra's al Ghul.” The computer voice told him in a somewhat cheerful voice. “This is not necessarily a bad thing.”

Oliver stared at the computer for a moment before nodding slowly. He knew he needed to face the Leader of the League of Assassins. It was going to mean he’d have to marry the leader’s daughter. It was something he’d planned to do, but his injury had held him up. If this incident hadn’t popped up, he’d have left tonight to head to that confrontation. It was only Loki’s manner of dress that had made him call Barry to make sure the Assassin’s hadn’t tried to infiltrate Barry’s team.

Nothing the computer could have told him could have made him stop and consider everything it would have to say as much as that statement.

“Gideon, show Oliver the newest article verses the old one.” Barry commanded softly.

“As you wish, Creator,” Gideon replied before she projected the two articles side-by-side. Oliver took a step forward to read the fine print of the two articles while trying to ignore the scale of the battle unfolding on the page.

Barry tried hard to stay passive as Oliver took his time reading and contemplating the ramifications of the articles.

“When did they change?” Oliver finally asked after nearly ten minutes.

“That’s a little hard to explain.” Barry started.

Gideon began to speak when Barry faltered, looking for words to explain this to his unscientific friend. Oliver wasn’t stupid, but he didn’t like the time-travel talk. “When Krypton 38 exploded there was a time bubble created in this timeline. This was followed by another larger time bubble when Barry managed to visit Earth 617. These time bubbles expanded to cover this multiverse when Cisco was able to bridge the Worlds of Earth Prime, 38 and 617 together. This allowed the change in the articles to occur. Had any of these events unfolded differently, then this event would not have occurred, and the Creator would disappear in the Crisis of 2024.”

Oliver closed his eyes and his jaw clenched. “So this is all because of Supergirl?”

“No, Mr. Queen,” Gideon’s voice changed to sound multi voice, something Barry instantly tensed up over. He’d never heard Gideon sound like this and the voice was ominous and foreboding. “We needed the bridge, and we decided to use this Earth as our base to move our pawns from.”

Oliver rocked back on his heels slightly. He might not have known much about magic, or entities, like Team Flash did. He knew enough to know that he was no longer speaking to Gideon. “Who are you?”

“We are,” Replied the voice, as if that was the answer to his question. “Our goal requires us to do this. Do not get in our way.” Suddenly the articles flickered to a burning Star City. “This is no longer your future as long as our plans are followed.”

The lights dimmed slightly before the image disappeared and the two articles flickered in the air as if nothing had happened.

Oliver turned and glared at Barry. “This is why you aren’t welcome in my city, Barry.” He snarled as he stormed out of the room. As he stormed out he began muttering about strange shit like that didn’t happen unless Barry was involved.

“What was that, Gideon?” Barry asked looking more than a little spooked, not only by the voice, but by Oliver’s attitude.

“I do not know, Creator.” Barry didn’t think it was on purpose, but Gideon’s too calm reply left him feeling like someone had walked over his grave.

Barry sighed and shook his head. “That’s what I was afraid of.” He slowly walked back into the room with everyone else. The rest of Team Arrow had managed to introduce themselves to the Super Team, and were talking comfortably together when he re-entered the room. Kara had shot him a concerned look, meaning she had listened in on the conversation in the Time Vault. Barry just shook his head, meaning to talk to her later, but Oliver had yet to make an appearance.

Oliver had finally joined them after about twenty minutes and had silently watched the group before Darcy had had enough of his brooding and handed him a drink and started talking at him. Oliver knew enough social skills to know how to behave even if he wasn’t feeling like joining in. He kept his issues to himself.

Team Arrow had arrived just before eleven, and they had all talked until nearly one am. At that point it was decided that Kara, Loki and Clark would return to Barry’s home. Tony and Darcy were invited to go with the Arrow team to the local hotel. Felicity had offered to put them up for the night since Barry’s house was already so crowded. Tony had offered to return the favor if they ever came to Earth 617.

“I hope we get the chance to. I have seen the plans for the StArk Reactor and-” Felicity had start to say but Darcy’s loud barking laugh interrupted her.

“You guys call it the StArk Reactor?” She cackled, “Seriously?”

Tony looked smug. “What else were they going to call it? The reaction is run on Badassium.”

“It’s run on what?” Thea chuckled as she turned to face Stark.

“It’s the element I made that the Ark Tech runs on. I called it Badassium.” Tony replied seriously. “I mean what else was I supposed to call it?”

“I’ve been calling it Arksium.” Felicity replied with a wince. “I didn’t know it had a name already. Although I don’t think I can get… that name by our scientific censors.”

Stark waved her off. “I know, I know.” He looked a little put out. “I couldn’t get that one by Blue either.” He pouted.

Darcy snorted once more. “Yeah she added the amendment that Barry could have the plans but only if he didn’t call it Badassium. And that a portion of the profits goes to charity.” She added more seriously.

Felicity nodded with a brighter smile now that she knew she hadn’t stepped on anyone’s toes. “I love that amendment. It was easy to get by the board since it doesn’t kick in until initial expenses are paid off and is based only on profit. So in reality it will be about three years before we turn a profit, and only about eighteen percent will be given to charity once upkeep is taken into account for the first few years anyway.”

“It will be less than a year now that Tony helped Barry learn what they were doing wrong, and they are going to be able to make a working prototype soon.” Darcy replied with a wide grin.

“That is so awesome!” Thea jumped in.

The girls began to walk ahead a little and gossip about the differences between their worlds. The guys let them walk ahead, but kept them in sight. Tony walked up beside Oliver.

“So, Broody, what’s your story?” He started with his usual abrasive sarcasm, “Broody dark and green, Legalos of the night?”

Diggle held back a laugh but it was a close thing. Only his military training stopped him from actually cracking a smile. Oliver’s eyes darted to Tony but he didn’t look at him. “I was a stupid kid who got stranded on an Island because a close family friend who wanted to kill my dad. He succeeded. I spent the next five years learning to survive against the worst of the worst assassins, and other criminals. When I came back, the city was a cesspool of corruption. So I killed the people who were on the list of high ranked people trying to destRay a part of the downtown core called “The Glades”, and at the same time kill thousands of innocent people because they were poor and desperate.”

Tony shrugged. “I get that. I was captured and tortured by Terroristsin the Middle East during a weapons demonstration. Once I escaped, I hunted them down and killed them all.”

Oliver stopped walking and turned to look Stark dead in the eyes. It was only when Tony met his eyes that Oliver could see the hard truth in what Tony had said, and what he didn’t say.

“What was his name?” Oliver asked him quietly. He could tell instantly that Tony understood what he meant

“Ho Yinsen,” Tony replied with a hint of regret, “Yours?”

“Yao Fei,” Oliver replied with the same soft tone.

Diggle looked at them both and sighed inwardly with relief. Oliver was such a prickly person. He had his playboy persona that was a thin mask. Stark had just cut through that with a razor. The two had just bonded on a level that Diggle had never seen Oliver do with anyone but Barry, and himself. Even the other members of Team Arrow still had a bit of a barrier when talking to Oliver because they couldn’t understand the things he had seen. With that simple question both could see the hell the other had been through. While it seemed Oliver had it worse, Stark had also taken the same path. He’d killed his enemies. That made Stark, Oliver’s equal in the ‘vigilant’ category. The only difference was Iron Man had obviously not been branded as such, while Green Arrow had.

Once they had checked into the rooms Felicity had arranged for them, Tony had laid back and thought about his reaction to Kara’s attitude. One thing Tony was well aware of was his flaws. He’d been an asshole and prick most of his life. He owned his flaws.

Kara had always seemed above that type of attitude which was why he’d reacted so badly to it. He’d placed her on a bit of a pedestal, and she’d fallen. Thinking about it he’d seen glimpses of this attitude before. It was rare and had always seemed based on fact. She was superior to humans physically and in most cases academically, with a few obvious exceptions. She’d always had a quick acceptance of others however, and that was why this straight out bigotry was such a shock. He realized he hadn’t been fair about it.

Darcy was having some of the same thoughts as she sat back and listened to Felicity and Thea tell her a little bit about Star City’s night life. She’d also seen moments of Kara’s superiority issues, and she decided to ask the girls their thoughts.

“Does it feel like we ganged up on Supes when she was all ‘Daximites are bad?’” She asked when they had finished telling her about Thea’s nightclub that doubled as the Arrow Cave.

Felicity shot the girl a kindly frown. “Well, she was repeating something she learned from her mom, so I get her point.”

“Plus Clark also said the Daxamite felt the same way towards Kryptonians, so it’s kinda a two-way street right?” Thea added looking from Felicity to Darcy.

Darcy nodded slowly. “Yeah… I’m kinda thinking I owe her a break.”

Felicity patted her hand. “I’m sure your friend will overcome this. She had a talk with Barry, and if anyone knows what it’s like to have to get over a bad reaction to someone, it’s Barry.”

Darcy returned Felicity’s smile and Thea snorted with an edge to it, “Barry has the worst life I swear. The boy never gets any breaks. When we first met him, Oliver was two steps from killing him, especially when Barry figured out he was Green Arrow!”

“Oh tell me!” Darcy squealed. Now that she had another opinion, and had decided to tell Kara she was sorry for being all judge-y on her, Darcy was ready to forget the needed conversation until morning. When she got the chance to see her again that’s when she would worry about how to say she was sorry for being so harsh.

At Barry’s house the group of Kara, Loki, Clark and Barry had an interesting trip. Barry had run ahead and the other three had followed by air. Kara had lent her power to Loki by holding his hand as they flew to the house and landed nearby in the dark backyard.

The group had convened in the living room. Barry was sorting out rooms.

“Kara can stay in the guest room. It was Iris’s old room.” Kara quickly nodded her head.

“My room only has a double bed.” He said looking at the two men. “And the couch is comfy, and I can take the love seat.” He offered. Clark looked at the small loveseat and Barry’s long thin frame and shook his head at the same time Kara shook hers.

“I can hover-” both started to say before they turned to look at each other and laughed.

“We,” Kara said as she motioned to Clark and herself, “can hover while sleeping so we don’t require an actual bed.”

Loki nodded and turned to go towards the stairs, “With that settled I will take the bed in the guest room and Kara will hover nearby. We will need to leave near dawn for her training. I imagine the others will wish to meet for a late breakfast?”

Kara was fine with the arrangement that Loki had lined out, but it was obvious the other two men did not. “It’s kinda a rule for the house. No sharing with the opposite sex unless married.”

Loki turned to look at Barry with an evil smirk. “Is it, or is it not, a rule, Mr. Allen.”

“Oh it’s a rule all right.” An authoritative voice came from the stairs. “Who are these people Barry?” An older man with his bathrobe tied tightly around his waist made his way down the stairs.

Joe West had been awakened when Barry had entered the house. With the news stations broadcasting the events live Joe had known not to wait up for Barry, but it was habit for him to check on him once he got home. Being such a light sleeper had its benefits as Barry’s foster dad. When Barry had been a kid it made it easier to keep track of the head strong boy. He’d tried for months to run away and visit his dad in prison, he’d finally let him see him, and his dad had told him to never come back. Barry of course hadn’t listened, but he’d stopped running away after that to do it.

“Sorry, Joe,” Barry automatically apologized for waking the man. “These are my friends from Earth 617 and Earth 38. This is Kara, also known as Supergirl, she helped me last year to get back when I jumped to her world by accident.”

Joe smiled warmly at her and moved forward to shake her hand. “I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Kara blushed and ducked her head. “I really didn’t do much. It was more Tony Stark, he’s here to, but he’s staying with Oliver and his team at a hotel.”

Joe turned to Barry with a sharp look. “Oliver is in town? Should I alert CCPD?”

Barry quickly shook his head. “No, no. Joe, Ollie’s here to meet them, that’s it!” Barry assured him. “Gideon’s future news article changed, and I’m not going to disappear anymore. They’re going to help me fight the coming crisis.”

Joe felt even more relieved to hear that news. The idea that someday his ‘son’ was going to just disappear had kept him up at night, even more so than Barry’s superhero life each day did.

Barry quickly turned back to the others. “This is Kara’s cousin Clark Kent, also known as both Kal El and Superman.” He quickly turned to Loki and introduced him. “And this is Prince Loki of Asgard from Earth 617.”

“Asgard? As in Norse gods Asgard?” Joe asked him disbelievingly.

“That is correct.” Loki replied smoothly. “I am also known as the God of Mischief and Lies.”

“Mischief, _magic_ and lies,” Kara disagreed with a roll of her eyes. “It should be Truth more than lies. Lies is a bit dramatic a title for being able to tell when someone is lying.”

Joe still looked resigned, “Magic, mischief and lies? What have you gotten involved with this time Barry?”

“They are all aliens…” Barry added with a chagrined sigh.

Joe did a double-take at Barry then he looked at the three human looking ‘aliens’. “Is this a joke?” He asked sharply. “It’s not very funny Barry.” He glanced at the clock, “Especially at nearly two in the morning.”

“He isn’t lying, Mr. West.” Kara said softly, trying to not upset the man any further. “Kal El and I are from the planet Krypton. When our planet exploded we escaped in long range escape pods. I was thrown through a wormhole and landed on Earth 617’s Asgard. Kal El continued to Earth 38 as intended.”

Joe held up his hand. “I am not going to be able to think about this until morning.”

“Sorry, Joe.” Barry muttered.

Joe just looked at Barry for a moment before just shaking his head and pointing at Loki. “Prince or not, you are not sleeping with your girlfriend under my roof. You will either bunk with the boys, or find a hotel.” He turned on Clark. “As for you, you should be protecting her honor as her family.” He looked at them all one last time. “I will see you all in the morning for breakfast.” He turned and went up the stairs muttering about what could happen next, and that this town had seen everything now.

Kara turned to Loki who was sporting a rather evil looking grin. “Do not take that as a challenge.” Kara ordered. “He is sleep-deprived. He likely won’t believe this was real until we sit down to eat breakfast in the morning.”

Loki sighed and glared down at her. “You are not allowing me to have any fun.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “When someone actually challenges you, and is not muttering to themselves, not fully aware you can hear them, only then will I allow you to go to town on them.” She swatted him. “And you know better than to be disrespectful of a host.”

Loki sighed but was willing to acquiesce to her point. “This is true. However, when such an incident occurs, you are not to stop me from having my way.”

Kara threw up her hands and a playful display of agreement. “I’ll even help, how’s that?”

Loki’s evil grin returned and he kissed her cheek. “That is a promise I will make you keep.”

Kara couldn’t help the blush that stained her cheeks as she moved towards the stairs. It would be easy for her to find the guest room with her x-ray vision.

“We’ll take the other room.” Loki responded before Clark could volunteer him to taking the couch. While he was sure it would be comfortable enough he had a feeling it be best in the morning if Mr. West had a chance to talk to Barry before he saw the rest of them.

They all quickly made their ways to their beds. Barry took literally no time making his bed on the couch and getting a sleeping bag for Clark since he’d be hovering beside the bed Loki would be sleeping in. “Well good night.” Barry bided them as he turned to go back down stairs.

“A reminder, Barry,” Loki told him softly. “Kara and I will be gone for a while in the morning for her re-training. If we are gone, please do not become alarmed.”

Barry nodded and bit back the urge to request a chance to go along. “I’ll leave a map with the sites we used for my training for you out so you can choose where you want to go that would be best for you.”

“What are you training her in?” Clark asked curiously.

“Kara requires some new re-training to complete her warrior rank.” Loki explained quickly. “I need to train her to not hesitate in battle as she has been due to her recent injury.”

“Do you think I could come along?” Clark asked him. “I’ve never been taught to fight properly. There was no one I could train with.”

Loki agreed with a simple nod. Barry looked envious and Loki just sighed. “You may come also, Mr. Allen. I will be strict as an instructor; this is your fair warning. Tomorrow I will be Kara’s Weapons Master and not her friend, nor yours, if you choose this training. Asgard is a warrior society; we take these types of training very seriously.”

“As will we,” Clark promised. “Perhaps we should watch at first, and maybe do the very basics first steps?”

Loki gave an approving nod at Clark’s very wise idea. Barry looked just as dedicated. “I always take my training seriously, as do Caitlyn and Cisco.”

“They will not be monitoring your vitals. As the Weapons Master, I will be doing so.”

“Of course,” Barry promised.

With that the men left to go to their rooms. Clark gave Loki time to be situated before he chose the hover at bed level on the side of the bed furthest from Loki and quickly fell asleep.


	6. Training and Goodbyes

**Part 4 - Arrowverse comes knocking - Chapter 6 – Training and Goodbyes**

Clark hadn’t been expecting to be woken by water being poured over his head. He sputtered and dropped like a stone to the floor. “Hey!”

“It is time for me to teach you to fight.” Loki smirked at him. Clark nearly groaned out loud, but thought better of it. He’d had asked the God of Mischief to teach him, and now it was too late to complain about how said god was going to be doing that teaching.

Kara was already outside the guest room waiting for Clark and gave him a nod of hello. She looked tired and a little apprehensive. “Are you alright?” Clark couldn’t help but ask as they followed Loki’s determined stride down the stairs.

“This is going to be rough for me.” She admitted with a small grimace. “I have to face my fears… and the risk of death so I won’t freeze in battle. Loki is going to have to be a little more brutal than he would normally be while I train today.”

Clark looked concerned, wondering what she meant by facing a risk of death. “Have you not faced those kinds of dangers before?” Clark had of course had many such encounters, with so much kryptonite floating around it was impossible for it not to happen to him back home.

Kara shook her head slowly. “Not since I grew strong enough to walk on Asgard. I had stasis sickness and it took a few weeks for the yellow sunlight of Asgard to heal me enough to start forming our powers. My powers grew as quickly as my health did.”

Clark marveled at her. “Wow, mine came on in bits and spurts. I was always strong, but the flight and vision powers didn’t start until high school.” Kara nodded as she remembered Clark had told her that the day before.

They had reached the bottom of the stairs by then and Loki was speaking to Barry, “A large open area would be best, mostly flat terrain for today.”

Barry nodded as he thought of all the places he’s trained that were private in and around the Central City area. “I think we could use the abandoned airfield that belongs to STAR Labs. It’s where I did my initial speed tests.” He suggested. He got a map and showed Loki where it was, he also showed him a forest where he had done some speed jump training, and the quarry where he’d last encountered an exploding Meta. Loki liked the suggested airfield site for this first training session since it was ten miles away from the city limits, and there was nothing around for miles. The tarmac was as flat as any training range for new recruits, and with the exception of Barry concrete wasn’t going to hurt them if they slammed into it. Clark and Kara would likely be loud if they started crashing into one another during a sparring match so they needed to be far enough away as to not attract too much attention. Hand-to-hand wasn’t the plan today, it would be in a few days once Loki could determine Clark and Barry’s skill levels.

Barry led the group out to the airfield. Following his lightening trail was a bit more difficult in the morning light, but still easy enough to follow from high above for the three aliens.

Loki was quick to tell both Barry and Clark that since they would be learning hand-to-hand first it would be best for them to stretch out, and he would show them some exercises that he wanted them to run through for at least an hour, slowly. He explained the idea was to build some muscle memory and so he could gauge their skill level. Clark recognized a few of the moves as similar to what was shown in a few martial arts classes. It reassured Clark that Loki wasn’t being mischievous with them. Barry and Clark quickly moved out of the way when Loki and Kara faded into full battle armor.

Loki once more had the scepter in his hand. Kara’s eyes had taken in the scepter but she hadn’t flinched. It was progress but she had also expected the weapon to appear. Loki tried began to warm up with it, making it move to draw her attention to it. While she did notice the movement he was happy to see she wasn’t making any twitchy moves. She seemed at ease with it at the moment. The hard part would be while sparing and the spear was pointed at her. While they had done so on Asgard, it would be different without others nearby. She wouldn’t have the security of others she trusted to oversee the spar.

Kara took out her practice daggers. They were blunted blades that had a chalk edge that allowed for simple marks to ‘scoring’ hits during training. Kara began her simple movements first to warm up and Loki turned his attention back to the other two. Both were taking the stretches seriously, though it was obvious that Clark didn’t do these types of exercises regularly. His movements were stiff compared to Barry’s. Clark’s eyes kept flickering over to Barry, and he made an effort to copy his movements. Loki inwardly smirked. Being so strong he likely had never really had to work had during his childhood so his physical body was being maintained by the solar energy he absorbed.

Barry’s movements were smooth and silky. It was ironic that he had a runner’s body. He was slim, almost painfully so. If Loki hadn’t seen him out-eat everyone at dinner he’d have thought Barry actually starved himself, or worked out too much for the his calorie intake. With Barry’s athletic abilities and his build Loki was planning on a more aggressive fighting style for him than Clark.

Clark’s strength and invulnerability would make most of the maneuvers Barry would need practice impractical. He’d still show them both the moves but his would tailor the skills they would need later after they learned the basics, which honestly he figured would be all he’d have time to show them before they returned to Asgard. Thor would need them in less than three weeks.

“We will start with back to back shadow play.” Loki told Kara and he brought his body back to a straight standing posture. Kara just nodded and moved to stand behind Loki. He cast a quick spell to allow him to know if Kara made a mistake so he could correct it. This type of maneuver was very useful to teach the type of paired fighting Kara preferred. It was easier to do when the Weapon Master was watching, but Loki of course could do both.

The idea behind this maneuver was to learn the actions of your battle partner. Loki would call; attack, defend, left, or right for a few minutes before he fell silent and they moved as a single unit. The idea was the two would need to be mirror images of each other, without seeing the other. If done correctly Kara would not see Loki or touch him. If she made a mistake they would collide. It was a dance that she had done a thousand times, and that experience was why she had been able to fight with Steve so well in the middle of Park Avenue. She now had a second sense almost when fighting with a humanoid partner, even an unfamiliar one.

Loki let her spend some time warming up and then he allowed the scepter to enter her peripheral vision. He was happy to see she wasn’t reacting badly to those moments. She had adjusted her movements correctly. After ten minutes he had them change to actual sparing.

Now Kara looked a little more confident than she had the last time they had faced off. He checked that Barry and Clark were still working on their movements. He watched Barry carefully. He seemed to hold his fist a little strangely when he punched. That would need to be corrected. It was almost as if it had healed wrong and he was bracing it. With the way he was following through he’d likely break his shoulder if he kept it up.

“Why do you hold you wrist at that angle when you punch?” Loki snapped at him. “The body will follow the whole fist with that kind of movement and angle. You are learning to jab, not brawl. That type of punch would leave to open to injury and counter-attacks.”

Barry looked up at Loki surprised to be interrupted. “Oh well when I super punch I have to use my whole body and be at the perfect angle otherwise I shatter all the bones in my arm.”

Loki shook his head and gave him a look that suggested Barry prove his point, and quickly. “Show me.” He created an illusion of himself. “Punch this with your powers.”

Barry nodded and then zipped away. Loki was confused for a moment before he saw the speedster returning with his fist lit up with lighting. Loki quick ducked away as Barry started to launch himself at the dummy image. The explosion of force was tremendous and the image was blown apart. Barry came back and stood beside him.

Loki sighed and cast a spell to see the damage Barry said he had done previously. The spell showed that while the bones had been fractured in the past, it had not healed stronger than before. The breaks were completely healed, almost as if it had been healed under a soul forge. “How long does the healing take?”

“Not too long, I think eight hours was the longest for the time I fractured my back.” Barry told him as he shrugged. Getting hurt was part of being The Flash, it was why he needed Caitlin on his team so bad. Without her abilities as a medic he’d be a mess of bad fractures that had healed wrong. She’d had to re-break bones on several occasions because he had taken too long to get back to base.

“Remind me to create a brace for you so these fractures will not happen so often.” Loki shook his head. “Do the exercise right. I am teaching you to jab, not lightening punch. While that maneuver has been useful in the past perhaps you can find a way to make it work with proper fighting styles in the future.” Barry quickly corrected his movement, and Clark watch proudly as Loki moved passed him without comment to return to Kara.

As they began sparing, Clark couldn’t help but watch as the two moved around each other. Loki was so skilled he looked like a ballroom dancing professional with a moderately skilled partner. Kara was able to defend easily enough, but only because Loki wasn’t trying overly hard to hit her. They had been sparing for several minutes before Loki changed tactics and lunged at her crest in the middle of her breastplate with the tip of the spear.

Kara jumped back several feet, outside of their ‘sparring ring’. Kara stomped her foot in frustration, making the ground tremble slightly. She’d felt the surge of fear as the blade came at her. It had made her retreat beyond the allowable space to dodge.

Loki stood back and placed the butt of the spear on the ground. It hadn’t surprised him she’d reacted. She had in fact retreated in a way that anyone would, rather than in a way unique to her, such as flying out of range. That spoke well for the training and her determination to overcome her fear. It would take more than a single session. He wasn’t disappointed in any of her actions so far today. Her temper at failure also was a good thing. It would motivate her to push further.

As if to prove the point she stepped back into the circle and resumed her ready position. Loki gave her a nod and readied his own weapon without comment. Kara took a deep breath but smiled as she knew she had made a tiny step towards regaining her status as an Asgardian Warrior.

He kept them training for three hours. Barry had stopped several times for a snack due to his metabolism. Loki had also noted how much and how often Barry needed to eat. It was obvious that while his powers were amazing, there was a price he paid. That price was the need to constantly fuel his body. It wouldn’t surprise him if Barry had to either wake often to eat at night, or he had trouble waking in the morning due to a lack of energy.

Barry had suggested they return to the house to clean up before going to STAR Labs. They had returned in time to see Joe West had finished setting the table.

“Glad to see you guys returned. I was worried I cooked all those pancakes in the oven for nothing.” He had joked weakly when he had seen them all return. Loki and Kara were still in their full armor and the sight was a little intimidating, even for the seasoned cop.

Barry was glad to see Joe was willing to get to know his new friends, even though they were so different. Even Loki was friendly and conversing with everyone in a tone that was outgoing and amusing. He’d been less standoffish since the waking of Clark with his minor mischief. Barry wondered if Loki needed that kind of outlet to loosen up. If so, he had a few ideas he’s like to put into practice.

Oliver had been reflective this morning. Felicity had also been quieter than normal since they had all arrived at STAR Labs that morning. She was looking over the new simulations of the StArk Reactor now that the math corrections had been made.

Cisco was working in his lab trying to fix his interdimensional extrapolators so they could speak to more than one multiverse at a time. He was also looking to see if he’d be able to make it possible for them to work as a text message if someone didn’t answer for whatever reason, like being on Asgard as Kara was when they popped in on her. So far he was getting only Earth 1 to other Earths working, which meant Kara and Clark wouldn’t be able to speak without going through an Earth 1 connection. He could set it up so they could ‘text each other’ via a STAR Lab computer. He could even make it so it was almost instant with a dedicated system for communication with the IE’s.

Caitlin had spoken to Tony about his personal reactor in his chest. She was appalled to learn the device powered a magnet that was keeping shrapnel out of his heart. He’d explained that he hadn’t been in a condition to complain. Caitlin had understood not to pry, but she was amazed the man was still alive considering the unsanitary conditions of the original operation.

“Kara is going to remove it with her healing device on our Earth.” Tony assured her when she had realized it was taking up a huge amount of room in his chest cavity. Tony actually wanted to keep the housing but on a smaller scale so he’d always have the reactor for his suits since he was working on making the suits even more portable, but they all required his reactor to be where it was. He wouldn’t need the magnet portion of the housing, reducing the amount of room by half, giving his heart more room, and making it easier for it to beat, and for him to be able to take deep breaths.

“Is it safe to do it?” Caitlin asked apprehensively. “It would be the most delicate surgery I’d have ever seen or heard of being done.” She didn’t mention that the missing bone would require so much reconstructive surgery that he’d be lucky to be able to breathe without an oxygen tank for months afterward, if it worked.

Tony shrugged. “It involves magic supposedly,” He rolled his eyes, “which is Kara’s answer for a quantum field generator according to Dr. Jane Foster,” Caitlin looked a little confused as Tony continued to talk, “she’s the astrophysicist dating Thor, Kara’s other foster brother.”

Caitlin blinked a few times blankly. “I’m sorry! Did you say she has a quantum field generator? As in she can move matter from one place to another, like a transporter?” She asked with complete disbelief.

Tony shook his head carefully taking in the blank look the woman was giving him; he was starting to think he’d broken her. “No, this machine requires someone to lay down in it and it transfers unhealthy garage out and stimulates healthy cells at super speed.” He told her, using words she heard every day to help her accept it. He was a little proud of himself for showing concern for her well-being. Normal Tony Stark behavior would have had him trying to make her speechless and stammering. It was too bad Pepper wasn’t here to see it.

Caitlin blinked again and then turned to her computer and brought up Barry’s health file. “This is a video of Barry’s healing rate. Does it accelerate healing like this?” She asked, trying to rate the ability of her device and wondering if it would help Barry if he was ever beyond her ability to heal. She often was doing things she had no training for because Barry had no one else who he could go to for medical help.

Tony’s eyebrows rose as he watched Barry’s wounds healed the screen in real time while his vital signs were displayed on one side of the screen. “You need to see if he produces Quantum Particles when he runs.” Was Tony’s answer to her presentation, “If he does I have the name of someone you might want to talk to. He’d never talk to me, because my dad was a complete asshole to him and tried to steal his work. But he knows more about Quantum anything than anyone I know… even me or Bruce.”

Caitlin nodded slowly as she had no idea who Bruce was but she had an idea how smart Tony was, and she respected that he knew what he was talking about. “How would I do that? Or rather how would Cisco look for those types of particles?”

Tony sighed and muttered about needing a workshop on their Earth as he walked away from her and grabbed his suitcase. “Does you Gideon need Speedy Gonzales to open his AI vault, or can I patch into it?”

Caitlin shook her head. “It’s locked in the Time Vault.” She didn’t mention that if he was determined he’d likely be able to do anything he wanted in there as long as it didn’t go against Gideon’s programing. It always seemed as if not much had been off-limits, unless it would be helpful at that moment.

“Ok, I need a computer with a huge amount of processing power and pretty much the biggest hard drive you have.” Tony semi-ordered with his usually style of off-handed expectation. He intended to install a version of JARVIS into their system that would work out of his suit mostly for now. Hopefully he could leave it here and JARVIS would be able to help them in a limited fashion as he did when Tony was experimenting.

Caitlin directed him to Dr. Wells’ lab. “This lab should have what you are looking for.” Tony walked out and stormed past the Arrow Team where they were training while Darcy and Felicity were watching.

It was late morning when the others joined them. Clark, Kara and Loki seemed to being getting on very well. Barry came in behind them with Iris and Joe West, who had decided to come along. Things were always tense when Oliver and Joe were in the same room. Joe couldn’t stop being a cop, and Oliver was a vigilante. Still with the group this large it was easy for Oliver to avoid being near Joe and the group seemed to find some common ground and slowly got to know each other.

They traded stories about how they got into the hero business. Joe had heard some of what had happened to Oliver before. Hearing in more detail was brutal, and made him rethink his opinion of the man. The more he learned about; the shipwrecked, learning of the betrayal and watching his dad kill someone, then himself, just to give Oliver a chance to live. It was a story even he couldn’t help but feel compassion for. He’d never agree with killing as he’d done as Green Arrow, but he could understand why Oliver had felt a need for revenge. Joe knew there was more. Oliver hadn’t been very skilled in survival, and yet when he came back, not only was he not feral after spending five years alone on an island; he’d had skills that honestly frightened Joe a little bit.

Loki was very impressed by Oliver; both his motives and actions. Of the two he would reluctantly agree that he was glad it was Barry who seemed to have the ability to rip the time stream apart, and not Oliver. The man had what Asgard would consider to be shameful skills, but Loki couldn’t help but be impressed how well Oliver had learned them. His footfalls were either loud on purpose, or near silent when he wasn’t paying attention. His movements were economic and his face was a mask. He always wore the same unimpressed, bored, annoyed look. Only his arms gave away his true emotions. He tended to cross his arms when he felt secure, his hands stayed near his waist when he was aggravated.

The more Loki got to know the Barry the more he felt acceptance of his ability to disrupt the time-stream. It wasn’t like he could really do anything against an entity of the Speedforce’s caliber. He would always have reservations regarding the speedster’s ability. Mortals were so fragile, and easily killed. They also tended to mourn deeply for such a short lived race. He knew if Barry lost Iris all bets would be off. Barry would destroy the multiverse to save her, if he had a chance. Still he couldn’t help but think that in his shoes, even he would be tempted to do something similar for his mother, Thor, or Kara.

Thinking of Kara drew his attention to her. She was on the other side of the room talking privately with Clark once more. She was telling him more about Krypton and showing him pictures of all those they had lost.

Watching her was so different now that she wasn’t growing in front of him. When she had been a child half his attention had always been drawn to the changes he could see in her, day to day. Now without that distraction, he could see just how beautiful she had become. Her blonde hair was typical for Asgardians. When Loki was honest with himself, he did prefer blondes because of his exposure to that culture during his formative years. That and the only real brunette he knew personally was Sif, whom he hated.

Kara’s eyes were unique in their color. Asgardians tended to have very clear blue or darker colored eyes. Her mid-color blue was eye catching but in a very good way. For him, he had the added benefit of seeing the honesty in them. When she spoke to him, even in her illusionary image, he could see how honest and caring she was. As much as she prided herself on being a warrior of Asgard, she wasn’t even halfway as experienced as she should be. Once she had physically matured she had been unable to be trained on the training field with the other recruits. As Tyr had said, once she was no longer able to be hurt, and she could hold her ground against literally everyone, there was nothing left to teach her that a battlefield would not be a better teacher for. Loki had offered to watch over her when the other commanders had refused to. So he’d seen everything Kara was capable of before she had left for Midgard. Unlike the others that had grown with her he’d stayed long enough to know she was growing even more powerful under that sun.

In Loki’s estimation Kara could likely kill more than half the Asgardian army before she was over run. Her heat vision alone was her greatest weapon, if she ever let herself use it to kill rather than to disable from a distance. With the fear that weapon caused the ranks, she was easily the scariest opponent they would ever face. It was not a surprise to him that Odin was trying to stay on her good side. Unfortunately for him, Thor had made such a bad impression on her.

She was strong, compassionate, and most important to Loki she honestly cared for him for who he was. She loved him even when he was making mischief. He smirked as he remembered taking blame for her early attempts. Everyone knew he hadn’t been responsible, but they had all assumed he’d been taking the blame so he could hold it over someone else. Had it been anyone else, he might have. He had asked her to help him on occasion as repayment. She’d had fun however, and he’d never let her take a fall for him.

Her appearance at Thor’s coronation had been a bit of a shock. While he’d been aware of her adult curves before, seeing them on display had jolted him further into seeing her as more. He hated doing what was expected of him. That a great many influential people in not only Asgard’s court, but also in the Vanir and Alfheim royal courts had made the assumption that they would be matched as a couple was not lost on him. Nor was he unaware that Kara was attracted to him.

What was stopping him from making the first indication that he would welcome such an attachment had more to do with his own political goals, and his own ambitions. For centuries he’d only wanted what was best for Asgard, then things had changed. He wanted recognition in his own right. He wanted to be acknowledged for his abilities. Even knowing that he would never achieve or receive them from Odin, it didn’t mean that he had stopped desiring or craving it.

Becoming a couple with Kara of all people would be seen as something powerful, and a possible threat to Thor, and in turn Odin’s dynasty. If he tied himself to Kara he’d always be part of a whole, and he would never been seen as himself in his own right. While anyone who truly knew Kara would never think she would ever turn on Asgard, others would always assume their goal would be to rule in Thor’s stead.

Only Kara and their mother seemed to understand Loki and his motivations. Thor was becoming aware and accepting of it, but he had years of conditioning to overcome before he truly believed it. Loki had hope that one day Thor might see him for his abilities, but that was still years away in his mind. Loki was also impatient after spending so long lost in space.

Even under torture he’d managed to hide many of Asgard’s secrets from the Titan and its allies. Many minor secrets that would actually save Asgard he’d managed to make them work for. The most important detail had been that the gauntlet in the Vault of Asgard was a replica and not an actual working device. The original had been a work of art that had been destroyed and pieces of it scattered and melted down into base metals once more when the stones had also been scattered. Loki only knew this because he had purposefully gone searching for the information in Odin’s personal vault. He’d been looking for something to make him more physically powerful over three hundred years ago. He’d also learned that Asgard itself was not able to repel an assault by a huge armada like the one the Titan had, but it did have a natural barrier to such assaults. Only a few ships were able to navigate through the only accessible pathway into Asgard at a time. The asteroid field around the planetoid was held in place with gravitational anchors, meaning they stayed in the same place at all times. The gravity anchors were on Asgard. They would have to sabotage them from within, and none of the titan’s spies had been able to gain access to Asgard. Even an armada like the one the Titan had, could never come close to their home world while those fields were in place. 

Still the pull of the Mind Stone in the end had turned his ability to think straight. Only certain things couldn’t be twisted. His love for his mother had been mildly tainted by the lie that he was not her biological son. The other true thing was his love of Asgard, though it seemed it would never love him as much in return, and the love of the girl he’d known as a child for most of her life. His affection for Kara was one thing that the Mind Stone could not twist.

Kara’s belief in him, even after he’d stabbed her, was something that shook him at his core. He’d never felt that strongly for anyone before. He knew that if the situation had been reversed, he’d also have faith in her, though he wished he could say in the same amount. His years of dealing with backstabbing court intrigue and the scorn of many at court and on the training fields had damaged his ability to have such vast amounts of faith in anyone.

The final thing that gave him pause was the reaction she’d had to his ‘death’. Unlike Odin, he’d not needed to read the passages to understand what she had done. She had mourned him as if she had lost her husband; not her friend, confidant, and foster brother. Her answer in the cave had felt true. He was the most important person to her in their universe. He was unsure who she would choose if she had to decide between Clark and himself now that they had met. It was a high pedestal to fall from. It was one pedestal he didn’t want to stumble, or dive off of purposefully in order to protect himself from some possible future hurt.

In their little corner Clark and Kara were once more talking about everything they knew about their powers, and the fights they had been in. Kara had been horrified to hear that Clark had to face General Zod and his lieutenants. According to Kryptonian records they had been too dangerous for even the Supermax prison of Fort Rozz. They had been locked into their own little piece of the Phantom Zone. That piece had been damaged and they had managed to escape to Earth 38. According to Kara it shouldn’t have been possible, unless they had never entered the actual Phantom Zone at all, and their cell had instead been shot into open space by mistake.

Clark’s plan and tricking them into being radiated with red sunlight and then gene sequencing them into humans while he had been safe in the chamber had been genius in Loki’s opinion. Kara’s too by the way she had hung on his every word. She had been concerned about him having undergone the process of being human, and then going back to Kryptonian. She said there was something special about their souls, and that was tied into their abilities that should have made the process permanent.

While Clark hadn’t been aware of it, Loki had cast a spell to determine Clark’s race when they spoke about it. Unlike Kara, Clark’s DNA had human DNA in it. Kara’s did not. Her DNA read as Chimera of the other Nine Realms. Kara was likely right that he had lost some of what made him Kryptonian. He was also weaker than Kara at a genetic level. Loki chalked that up to her divinity, but he did have to wonder if a bit of that might also be due to his human DNA verses her goddess DNA infusion. In a fight Kara would easily defeat Clark, even without the warrior training she had undergone. Clark was easily a white belted warrior while Kara was a black belt by Earth standards. Without his powers Clark would be in serious trouble in a simple fist fight with a human, while Kara could likely hold her own against the majority of Earth’s warriors.

It was easy to see how Kara was taking the fact that Clark didn’t need her. She seemed relieved that he was so well adjusted, a little disappointed that he’d ignored much of their history, not surprised by his inability to speak Kryptonese, but overall happy that he was happy. Her relief and delight that he had been found by Martha and Jonathan Kent was palatable when he had first been told her about. Loki knew it also lessened her guilt in not being there for him, and for finding a new family of her own on Asgard.

That thought brought Loki back to the question of if he should consider a relationship with Kara. Was it something he wanted long term, or not at all. There could be no middle ground. It was an all or nothing proposal. There was just so many negative aspects, and yet if those negative outcomes were not tied so closely to his own self-worth, he would have damn the consequences and done as he pleased, which would be to see if there was a chance for them to be happy with each other.

There had never been anyone in over one thousand years who truly could hold his attention the way she could. She cared for him, loved him, and truly saw him as he was. He felt the same for her, although he’d be lying if he didn’t admit her age gave him pause.

His thoughts turned once more to Asgard. He loved and hated his home now. For a small time he’d felt completely severed from Asgard when he had believed himself to be Jötunn. Now knowing he was only half, the same as Odin himself, he felt connected once more though to a lesser degree than before. It felt as if being only half-Asgardian had disconnected him from his home partially forever. It had been such a welcome relief to know he could return home as himself, Loki of Asgard. Odin had of course done much damage to that sense of home with his comments about not being his father, that he was _Laufey’s son_. He still had no wish to learn of his biological mother. The obvious assumption of how he was conceived was too disturbing to contemplate since the Queen Fárbauti was obviously not his mother.

Kara had noticed Loki’s strangely quiet behavior. Even as she spoke to Clark about everything she had ever imagined talking to him about, she had been aware of the introspective look on Loki’s face. Clark had also noticed and wondered what he was thinking about. They both shared a nod of understanding and moved over to rejoin the rest of the group that had been hanging around the lab, silently agreeing to talk to each other again later on.

“So what are our plans for the next few days?” Kara asked as the came closer to where Barry and Oliver had been talking about what had happened with Zoom and Barry’s dad.

“We need to return to Star City. I have a trip to make soon.” Oliver told them with a passive look.

Felicity looked a little disappointed but nodded in agreement. “One day I can get away with, but I have to run the company while Ray is away with the ‘Legends’, and Queen Consolidating so going to need to get ready to start production of the StArk Reactor soon.”

Tony smirked at that and Kara rolled her eyes. “You really can just call it the Ark Reactor, there is no need to stroke Tony’s ego, it’s much too big as is.”

“No, no, please by all means, having my name in lights is a great thing to see.” Tony chuckled.

“I remember.” Loki grinned evilly at him. “My staff took out the r and k, I believe.”

Darcy laughed. “Yes, but the A was the only thing left standing which is why it’s called Avenger Tower now.” Tony pouted with the others from their Earth chuckled at him. 

When Felicity opened her mouth to ask the obvious questions to get the story behind the joke, Darcy stopped her with a wink, “I’ll tell you later.” She promised. Felicity smiled warmly at her.

“I’ll look forward to the call.”

Barry cleared his throat slightly. “I actually have to go back to work tomorrow. Crime doesn’t just stop happening in a city like this, and while I can do the paperwork fast, the testing still needs to be done at regular speed.”

Clark nodded with a bit of a smirk. “I have the same problem, which is why I do as much work as I can from home, or out of the office. It’s much easier with Lois covering for me these days. Before she figured out I was Superman I had to come up with an excuse to get away, and I am a horrible liar.” He laughed softly as he recalled some of his worst excuses. Loki raised a brow and smirked in return. He could feel that about Clark.

Barry nodded. “Yeah I was horrible with them too, even before I became Flash.” Everyone who knew Barry started to laugh along.

“I recall the Captain calling you out on that.” Joe reminded him, “Something about your car breaking down.”

Cisco started laughing louder, while the ‘out-of-town’ guests looked confused. Felicity clued them in. “Barry has never had a license, nevermind a car.”

“Which is what the Captain pointed out to him,” Joe filled them in. Barry just sighed and stared at his feet while everyone else continued to laugh at his expense.

“Well trying to say I was supposed to be getting you a candy bar didn’t work either.” Barry shot back with a smile.

“Cause you had already taken a huge bit out of it!” Joe exclaimed.

“Your boss must either be very forgiving or…” Clark was unsure how to finish that statement. Perry White had seemed to buy Clark’s excuses over the years, but sometimes he had to wonder. He was supposed to have been one of the greatest beat reporters for years, and yet he couldn’t seem to know when Clark was lying to him.

“Barry is just that good at his job, even without the ‘superpowers’.” Joe defended, his voice changing to the proud father tone.

Oliver nodded. “The first time I met him he told me something I thought was impossible, and this was before the accident. Turned out not only was he right, it was the key to defeating the bad guy.” He explained.

“Ah, it’s Barry appreciation night.” Thea Queen piped in. “Don’t you feel loved, Barry?” She bumped his shoulder playfully.

“Completely,” he deadpanned.

“Will you still be joining us for training each morning?” Loki politely asked, but his gaze held a hint of challenge.

Barry nodded almost too quickly. “Yes, as long as I’m not called to a scene before or during.”

Joe seeing the look Loki had shot Barry quickly realized that missing his training would be a bad thing. “I’ll try to delay calling until your sessions are done, if that happens.”

Loki gave Joe and Barry a nod of approval. He could understand being called away for duty, but skipping it otherwise would be cause to unleash his more creative ways of training outside of a session. Something Barry instinctively knew he would want to avoid at all costs.

Diggle had been quiet for the most part during the whole trip. Kara had been concerned when she had noticed he had spent a great deal of time writing in a little composition book he’d asked Caitlin for. Using her vision she had seen he’d written notes on what they had said about the other alien races living on Earth 38, or had visited Clark’s Earth. He’d also written down the tiny bit they had said about the Chitauri invasion. There were notes about Asgard and about Kara, Thor and Loki in general. The man had been busy. Kara was deeply concerned about why he had the notes since he was the one with a wife who worked for the government black ops division on Barry’s Earth. She was unsure how to bring it up without causing a fuss.

As the others were beginning to say their goodbyes Kara approached Darcy and Felicity. Waving them into the corner she asked about the book. “Felicity, can Diggle be trusted to not go to his wife with all this?” She bit her lower lip as she tried to explain why she was worried.

“Whoa, of course he’s going to talk to his wife about it.” Darcy cut in, “The question is can she be just his wife, or is she always the director of this ‘anti-alien’ division.”

Felicity looked sympathetic as she took in Kara’s concern. “You don’t need to worry. I’ll talk to her on the way home before Diggle gets to her. Barry and I have a good relationship with Lyla. I wouldn’t worry about it. She will sit on the information unless she sees one of these aliens go rogue.” She smiled reassuringly at them both. “She works with us all the time, so she isn’t going to burn any bridges with us.”

“Ok, he just was so quiet I have no idea what he thinks of us.” Kara sighed as she rubbed her face. She had been inside so much today she could feel her body responding to the lack of sunlight, making her a little more tired than usual. Training with Loki for only two hours this morning hadn’t been enough time in the sun. Early morning sunlight was also quite weak. Usually she had either a window or direct sunlight emersion to collect extra energy during the day.

Felicity nodded quickly. “I know. He is always so quiet. It used to drive Oliver crazy at first when he was his bodyguard. I was the opposite, I talk so much I still drive him nuts.”

Kara couldn’t help but smile warmly at the young woman. “Like someone I know,” she chuckled as she looked at Darcy.

“Hey, I know when to be quiet.” She protested. “I just usually don’t care enough to bother with rules and shit.”

The girls had a good laugh over it but Loki who as always had been listening in was more concerned about Diggle’s book. He couldn’t see the book itself but he could see a bulge under Diggle’s coat. He vanished the object into his ‘pocket space’ to be retrieved later.

“Anyway I’ll make sure the hotel keeps your rooms for the rest of the week.” Felicity told Darcy. “I know you guys don’t have our Earth currency so I figured this would be easier.”

“Whoa, thank you.” Darcy gushed with a grateful breath. “I wasn’t sure about that part. We left so fast we never really thought about bringing money, and I know Tony’s never had to think about it.”

Kara snorted. “Being a billionaire means everyone gives him what he wants, and they bill him for it.”

Darcy and Felicity nodded in unison, it was like they were on a twin connection, only Darcy had a millennial mouth and Felicity was more conservative in her speaking patterns. Kara couldn’t help but think they shared a destiny, caring for the Superheroes in their lives. Each of them both experts in their talents and exceptional at being what their teams needed.

Felicity threw her hands up dramatically and didn’t notice Oliver coming up behind her, “I know! Oliver is the worst when he’s playing at being a stupid-“

Oliver cleared his throat loudly to stop her from insulting his alter ego. “It’s time to go.” He told her as he handed her the motorcycle helmet.

Felicity clutched her chest as she turned quickly on her heel. “Augg, don’t do that!” She retorted as she hit him in the chest, and then she poked him sharply with her long fingernail to make him wince before turning back to Kara and Darcy. It was a fond farewell between the women and short nods and handshakes between the men before the Star City group got on their motorcycles and drove back to the airfield.

Loki continued to keep mostly to himself during the following three days except for the training each morning. Clark and Kara got to know each other even more during that time, but made an effort in include Loki when he made himself visible. Kara had started Clark on a primary for Kryptonese, and on the third day they had debated placing a mini version of the Fortress on Earth 1.

“This Earth is way more advanced than my own.” Clark confided, “I would worry they would breach the fortress and we’d not find out in time to defend it.” Clark had admitted finally when Kara had pushed that having their own computer to act as a relay for their communications. Cisco and Tony had worked on the interdimensional extrapolator, but they still hadn’t been able to break the need for a relay through Earth 1 before Tony had to return to Earth 617.

“If we could hide it well enough, it would be more secure than here at STAR Labs since the Governments of our Earth would certainly steal any of your tech if they could.” Cisco added in as he tried to think of a place they could build it that would be remote and able to be defended and hidden. “They have threatened to take all our stuff before. There was a huge amount of liability lawsuits that got dismissed when they couldn’t prove it hadn’t been an accident caused by negligence. With all the oversight we’d had the Government would have been on the line liability-wise too. All of that was before Barry inherited the whole lab because Thawne had left everything to him.”

“The governments steal our tech on our Earth too.” Darcy pouted with a sad gleam in her eyes. “Damn government agent stole my iPod.”

“I replaced it.” Kara snorted then she sobered remembering that Coulson was dead in part because she had accidently hurt him enough to need medical help from SHIELD, which in turn lead to his death. She’d never explained to anyone why she’d had such a bad reaction to his death. She’d had a panic attack that had caused her new powers to manifest for the first time.

“Sure, sure,” Darcy waved her off. “Doesn’t change the fact Fury would take your fortress in a heartbeat if he could find it.”

Kara agreed with a firm nod. She completely agreed. “Hence, why no one knows where it is, except Barry and Loki.”

“Where did you hide it?” Clark finally asked. He’d never even considered actually hiding his. He was just glad it was inaccessible. Its location had kept the government from getting to it so far, not that if they really put their mind to it that they couldn’t access it. It was the key that would be a barrier. His front door now had a protocol that would stop anyone from opening the door without holding up the key. It was made of Dwarf star metal that weighed several tons. The government would need to move a serious crane into the most inhospitable area of northern Alaska’s mountains and glaciers to reach it and then setup and actually lift the thing. He was sure the many governments would make it happen if the public wouldn’t lynch them for stealing from him. Or the knowledge that he would come for whatever they stole, if they managed to do all of that without him stopping them in the first place.

Kara explained Loki and her thinking about how to hide the Fortress under the glacier field. “Even before I left for Earth we had discussed where to setup my Fortress. It had to be a place where any heat signatures would be written off as geothermic vents. I built the Fortress in that type of configuration on purpose. I also oscillate the heat in the structure to mimic a nearby vent so it looks like an extension of that one, except when I have humans inside.”

Clark was impressed with the precautions they had setup. He knew he could move his Fortress to a similar setup. It would be labor intensive due to the collection of kryptonate, and non-sentient alien species he’d stored there over the years, but it was doable. He could also remake the door and key setup in the tunnel to add a level of security.

Everyone turned to look at the maps of northern Norway of Earth 1. Even on this Earth the maps were sparse, with the exception of pictures from space. “So as long as we don’t change the surface we could build a small version of the Fortress here.” Cisco asked, excited suddenly at the idea of being able to use some of their technology, even if only remotely.

Loki studied the map for a moment before he pointed to a small section that was covered by a mountain with a permanent glacier formation on its peak. “This is the perfect location.” He told them, it was also very close to the location Kara had on her Earth. There were some minor differences in the landscape but the mountain was the same, just a slightly different pattern to the glacier field seemed to be different. “There are places you can add entry points that will be inaccessible to regular humans nearby, and the area has some active heat vents already, but the Kryptonian crystals will keep the actual minimal seismic activity from damaging the Fortress. It also gives you vents to mimic so it looks as if the vent expanded slightly if anyone notices at all.” Loki looked at Kara with a tense expression. “If we do this it will have to have airtight security as you won’t be present to protect it.”

“There is no such thing.” Cisco piped up. “With metas we have no idea when someone is going to figure out some way of getting around any type of security system.”

“It will be magic and technological, and both will be instantly fatal to anyone not keyed to the fortress.” Loki responded dryly.

Cisco nearly dislocated his jaw as it dropped open. Barry was looking warily between Kara and Clark. Already he knew Clark had as much of an aversion to killing as he did. Kara had no such compulsion.

Kara knew that Loki’s suggestion was an Asgardian solution, but the others would want something more ‘humane’. “We’ll need a warning on the outside. Fatal if they make it inside.” She compromised with a stern look at Clark. “If they push past the non-lethal warning, they deserve what they get.”

“Just how ‘non-lethal’ are we talking about?” He asked with his arms crossed.

Kara looked at Loki for a moment and she could guess what he would suggest. She wanted something a little more acceptable to Clark, “A wide-area effect stunning spell, strong enough to knock them out based on intent.” Clark looked confused by the simple explanation so Kara expanded her description, “Someone intent on exploring the area for a legitimate reason would be knocked out for only a moment, like scientists investigating the glacier. Someone like your Lex Luthor would be knocked out until he was in danger of dying. If he could be pulled away by others with him, he’d just stay in a ‘coma’ for several weeks.”

Clark looked a little uncomfortable but he nodded, it seemed reasonable, and if intent was the judge, then it wouldn’t hurt the soldiers or scientists, but it would hurt the commanders and ‘evil masterminds’. “You can do that?” Clark asked as he looked towards Loki.

Loki rolled his eyes hard and crossed his arms in annoyance. “I can, though I believe it is a waste of my talents, but if that is your wish, I will make the exception.” He glared at them, “If they make it inside for any reason I will put up a lethal ward.”

Clark looked like he wanted to argue the point but Barry managed to catch his eye and shook his head. Barry had watched and learned enough from Kara and Loki’s attitudes and mannerisms to understand they were closer to the original Green Arrow attitude towards their enemies than Barry, or Clark. They were warriors, and arguing was pointless. They wouldn’t understand why they should allow a thief to live, especially if the intent was to kill innocents with what they would steal. In a way Barry could see their point, but he couldn’t live with it personally.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, searching for something to say to break the tension, but no one wanted to start a contentious argument. Without anything to say, they all looked back toward the table and the map.

Kara looked at the mountain Loki had pointed out over and agreed with is assessment. She showed Clark where they should create the door and tunnel that would lead to the ‘front door’. There they could add a DNA lock that would open the door only for; themselves, Loki, Barry and Cisco. They would be the only people on this Earth who could reach it without technology if they needed to. She also showed him the best position of the ‘stun field’, just inside the tunnel entrances. Loki could also add a barrier that would stop anyone from phasing through the door or walls, securing it from Speedsters or other metas. Loki made a mental note to add that level of protection to Kara’s Fortress, and Clark’s, if he ever went to his Earth. There was no guarantee Barry’s enemies wouldn’t follow them back to their own Multiverses.

Clark came around after a while, and they agreed to build the Fortress the next time they visited. They were going to have Barry’s team monitor the area and make sure the area was completely unused, and to see if they could monitor the vents for any fluctuation to make sure the heat signatures would keep the Fortress comfortable since the people most likely to be going there was Barry or Cisco rather than Loki, Kara or Clark.

The group was hoping that they could arrange for a weekend in about three months to all get together. Hopefully Lois could come along so she and Kara could meet. Clark’s schedule was difficult since it depended on if there was a major story in the news, and Barry’s was just as hard since crime waves happened often in Central City with all the metahuman issues that cropped up, though summer months tended to be busier than in the winter. Kara and Loki expected to be dealing with Asgard’s issues for the next few months, and the fallout over the incident in New York while on Earth 617.

Kara, Loki and Clark stayed a week in Central City. Tony had returned after the third day because Pepper was freaking out over his absence, and Darcy had to return two days before the others due to some press issues that Pepper needed extra help with. Darcy and Cisco had a lot in common and were bonding in ways Kara didn’t want to know, but would likely hear in detail after they returned.

During that week Supergirl, Superman and Loki had helped Flash with a few minor incidents; a bank robbery, a high speed chase that threatened a school bus, and a minor metahuman who had lost control of their emotional broadcasting powers when he was injured in a car accident. He agreed to a magical medical procedure (done by Loki) that released some pressure in his brain that returned his powers back to his control. Barry was glad to have a metahuman issue resolved without having to jail someone.

The TV coverage had been extensive. Colorful, flying, armored people were bound to get caught on video, and Barry’s guests were not camera shy. Even Flash had posed for a few pictures with the others, but he’d always made sure to slight vibe his face so it was out of focus, no matter who took the picture, or how fast the shutter was.

Barry had been more relaxed that week than he had in months. He had known he could depend on Kara and the others to help him out, so the pressure of saving Central City was lifted temporarily. Their presence made him feel less alone in his mission to help and protect people. It had also made him more productive at work because he hadn’t been late once, since he was up before dawn to train with the others. Loki had also suggested he wake twice per night to eat the protein bars Caitlin had developed. It had helped with the sluggish feelings he normally had when waking.

Loki’s lessons were tough for the superheroes, but both he and Clark were learning how to properly fight. For a god of mischief he was surprisingly all business on the training field. Not once during training had he pulled a single prank or been anything but a wise professional.

That didn’t stop him from pulling minor pranks on the others. Cisco’s car had suddenly become a ‘Pink Cadillac’ when he wouldn’t stop humming the song. Caitlin had lost access to her lab anytime she had gone more than five hours without food or water. While that wasn’t so bad the door knob acting like one from Alice in Wonderland telling her to drink something or eat something and maybe she could get through the door had been hilarious.

“Coffee is a drink.” Caitlin insisted as she screamed at the doorknob.

“Coffee is not a reasonable replacement for any nutrition, or a bodily required drink.” The posh tones of the doorknob replied. “And ice cold coffee sitting at your desk does not count when it was poured steaming hot four hours ago.”

Caitlin just stomped her foot and turned around towards the kitchen. This had been the third time the damn room had ejected her into the hallway in the past two days. Her bum was sore because the chair had suddenly zoomed out of the room and dumped her outside the door before going back inside just as quickly.

She growled to herself as she marched into the kitchenette and grabbed one of the protein bars she had made for Barry and a new cup. She sighed with defeat as she poured a cup of tea. Loki and the damn doorknob had lectured her on the need for water and the benefits of tea over coffee. While it had been annoying, she couldn’t help but see Loki’s point.

“You make sure everyone else has adequate nutritional, emotional and metabolic health, and then you neglect yourself.” He had told her with that annoying smirk on his face. “Surely you can understand my concern for your health given your lack of self-care, Doctor Snow.” All arguments about coffee being a necessary drink had gone unheeded since Loki was of the opinion that coffee was horrible, and tea was much better. 

Each night they had all gotten together after Barry had gotten off work and hung out at either Jitters or the karaoke bar. Loki and Iris unknowingly had the same concerns when Barry and Kara started talk, as the chemistry between the two was very evident to everyone around them. They would laugh at the same things, and seemed to have little inside jokes within moments. Their closeness was completely platonic, but their duets while they were out at the karaoke bar had been troubling to both Loki and Iris.

Barry and Kara had sung a few songs separately, but when they had done the theme song from ‘Friends’ and their feelings had seemed a little too close to the surface during that song. They seemed to instinctively bat the lines back and forth making them seem personal. The patrons around them that didn’t know Kara and Barry were not a couple had made comments about how wonderful it was to see a couple so in love.

Iris had never had to compete for Barry’s attention the way she did when Kara was around. Even when Barry had been seeing other people, he’d drop everything for Iris. She’d known it and to her shame, had used it against some of his former girlfriends. This past week if Barry wasn’t with their guests, he was talking about what Loki, Clark and especially Kara had taught him or shown him. He’d also confided in her about how he felt so much lighter working with them. She was torn between wanting Kara to stay so Barry could have this type of friend, and wishing Kara would go home so she could have Barry's attention back.

Loki had never had anyone overshadow him when it came to Kara, ever. This week he had not only Barry, but also Clark, pulling her into conversations that often didn’t include him. Not knowing the others as well, and not having been on good terms with Tony, it left him feeling strangely jealous of the attention she was giving the others.

While jealousy and envy were not new feelings when it came to Thor, or others, it was new when it came to Kara. She’d always dropped everything for him, except responsibilities. Their mother had done a wonderful job of drilling into all of them that responsibilities always came first. Loki was very happy Kara had found Clark, and was spending time with him. She made an effort to include him in those conversations since he, like Clark, had once had to learn about Krypton rather than having seen it in person.

Her conversations with Barry tended to center around ‘hero business’, something Loki still did not feel he truly was. He knew Kara didn’t agree, and was trying to create a place for him on Midgard for him to be one. The geis placed by the Titan made accepting the position in her life difficult. The spell would place her and that world in jeopardy one day. That day would undo anything heroic he could do before that.

Loki’s confusion over his relationship with Kara was further unsettled by his role as her battle master. Kara was working hard. She still instinctively moved away from the tip of the spear, and retreated further than necessary when it came within striking distance. It wasn’t a bad reaction, it was a good instinct. She didn’t react to all magical weapons as drastically. He’d thrown a few other magical weapons into the mix during her training, so he knew it was still an instinct to shy away from the spear a bit more than other magical weapons.

In his opinion, it was a good thing that she now had a healthy respect for the other magical weapons as well. The daggers that Loki had also began to using without the cloth covers were a good example. Kara had been nicked several times when she didn’t dodge far enough and she had started to move a little faster than was allowed during her training. This was also something Loki didn’t think was a bad thing, though he did remind her after each session not to rely on it as some worlds they would have to fight on in the future might have red suns.

Barry had questioned why they couldn’t use their abilities while training. Loki had explained that it was better to have the moves, and then add their powers later. They would not always be able to rely on their abilities. Barry would have to be able to defend himself as Barry, not just as the Flash, and there was always someone out there who might to faster. If he depended on his speed alone, then he could always be defeated. If he could fight without it, it made him that more powerful against his normal advisories.

Kara had seconded his advice. “There are worlds out there that have red suns. When I am on those planets I am as strong as my friend Captain Rodgers, but I’m nowhere as strong as I am under a yellow sun. If the humans ever figure that out, and develop a device to filter sunlight I could be easily defeated if I couldn’t defend myself as Kara Stark.”

Barry had been impressed and nodded thoughtfully. Clark knew that this type of training wouldn’t help him if a human had kryptonite, but he had never considered that the red sunlight filters could be used against him. Too many people on his Earth already knew that vulnerability, so he had doubled his efforts to learn as much as Loki could teach him in the limited time they had.

Kara had been impressed by Clark’s motivation, and had also doubled her efforts during their time to spar after Barry had left for his day job. Loki has watched as they worked together. The quarry Barry had shown them had been a better place for them to work. Kara and Clark had also compared their abilities. While Clark used his ice breath powers more extensively, and more effectively, Kara’s heat vision was more powerful, and precise. Kara was also a little faster due to her smaller frame and less wind resistance. She was noticeably stronger, which surprised all of them at first.

“I also have managed to change time once.” Clark admitted on the last day of their visit after they had finished training for the day.

Loki sighed and winced as an instant headache bloomed behind his eyes. “Of course you did.”

Clark looked sheepish. “Lois died in an earthquake while I was saving other people, I didn’t get to her in time, the first time.”

Kara’s eyes instantly filled with sympathy and she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “What happened?”

Clark shook his head as the day replayed in his mind. “I just screamed and then flew around the world so fast I changed the rotation of the Earth the other way, and time moved backward until her car was still on the road. I got there in time and pulled her out the second time because I knew it was happening and didn’t stop until I had saved her too. The first time I hadn’t known she needed me until it was too late.”

Loki looked at Clark as if he was insane. That was not how the time stream worked. It was not possible to physically change the rotation of planet just by flying around it and turning back time. Even if he had turned the planet’s rotation, all he’d have done was change the direction the planet spun in temporarily. Knowing how Barry’s powers worked, Loki concluded that Clark must have tapped into some type of Quantum Particles while flying in Space, and it was only his perception that had made it seem as if the world had turned back.

Kara looked confused. All her education regarding physics didn’t allow for that explanation to work. “I don’t know how that could have happened.” She admitted after a long pause.

Clark shrugged bashfully. “Kelex couldn’t figure it out either. You both seem to be able to follow Barry when he explains things so I had hoped you’d have a theory on what might have happened. I’d hate to do that type of thing again now that I’ve heard from you guys about the consequences.”

Loki rubbed his temples with his fingertips, trying to massage the pain away. He was a little relieved that Clark at least was smart enough to not want to recreate the effect. “Your perception of what occurred and the actual events likely are very different.” He started slowly and quietly. “What you perceived was likely yourself moving through time rather than the world itself spinning backwards.”

Clark nodded slowly. That explanation made much more sense to him. If he’d stopped the Earth’s rotation, gravity would have been affected by it, but it hadn’t been. Just events had stopped and reversed course. “That would be a better interpretation of what happened.”

Kara looked bewildered. “If you can fly as fast as Barry can run, then why are you slower than me? I’ve never gone so fast as to effect time.”

“In Space without the drag of air, you both would be much faster than in atmosphere.” Loki summarized. He knew Kara had never tried to fly that fast, that type of testing hadn’t been deemed necessary. “Kal El also was in the midst of an emotional event. The emotion might have fuelled his powers much as rage influences your heat vision.” He paused and decided to throw out his best guess. “Like Barry you likely tapped into some Quantum Particles while in space. A collision at such a high rate of speed might have caused the phenomenon.”

In the distance the sound of helicopters began to come closer to the quarry. All three turned their attention towards the incoming aircraft. With their enhanced vision all of them could make out the style and color of the incoming helicopters. The all black matte paint alerted them that they were about to gain an unwanted audience by the local military, and likely a black ops team. It didn’t surprise any of them that the US military would have a station of soldiers nearby to Central City considering the amount of metahuman activity in the area. Loki was actually surprised it had taken this long for them to interrupt their training.

“Let’s head back to STAR Labs.” Kara suggested, not taking her eyes off the incoming military attack helicopters. It was obvious now that the unmarked helicopters were military in nature due to the large guns now visible to the long range eyesight of both Kara and Clark. There was two Black Hawks, carrying troops with extra guns on the side and an Apache attack helicopter in the middle, leading the group.

“No,” Loki answered with an evil looking grin. “I’ll stay here. You both go if you wish.”

Kara chuckled while Clark looked a little worried. “You’re not going to hurt them are you?”

Kara giggled. “No, he is going to play with them a little.”

Clark was unsure if he was okay with what was about to happen. Kara looked a little excited by the idea of Loki playing with the incoming men. “These men are going to be under orders. They likely aren’t the ones calling the shots.”

“But if it is General Eiling, the one who has been trying to capture metahumans, he’d be on-board.” Loki smirked. “And if it is him I plan on making him regret chasing after and killing metahumans.”

Clark was even more wary now of leaving. Barry had told them about General Wade Eiling and his experiments on the telepathic gorilla Groud, and the death of a metahuman the year before when he had first become The Flash. Loki’s idea of justice and Clark’s had clashed this past week, though they had civilly agreed to disagree due to cultural differences. Clark was still unsure about Kara’s Code of Morality. He’d assumed it would be more Kryptonian than it was considering who her mother had been, and that she had grown up half her life on Krypton. She had surprised him by her stance on Capital punishment. Being all for it as she had been was certainly not a Kryptonian, or a common Earth philosophy (at least on his Earth). “Perhaps I’ll stay and make sure things don’t go too far.” He muttered.

Kara smirked and shook her head. “He won’t hurt them.” She reiterated calmly. She knew Clark would likely object to what Loki was about to do. She was fine with it as long as he didn’t hurt them. Scaring them a little would certainly make them think twice about what they were about to attempt.

Loki began weaving a spell. As the helicopters came over the final trees over the quarry edge they seemed to hit a headwind. The helicopters angled the nose down to power forward but the more they tried to push forward the stronger the wind got. The helicopters were literally hanging in place trying to move forward but seemed detained there as if held by invisible chains. One of the helicopters began to try to land, only to hit a shield that flashed visible for a moment, bouncing the helicopter back up beside it’s fellows above. All of these movements defied the laws of physics.

As far as pranks went, Clark could see this was harmless, though frightening for the soldier’s inside. He could hear the pilot’s panicked yells as they tried to keep their aircrafts from bumping into one another. “They’re not going to hit each other, are they?” He finally asked. He was fighting his own instincts to get the men on the ground safely.

“No, I have no intention of killing the mortals. Just making them aware they are about to encounter something more powerful than they have before, and hopefully instill a little respect before the threats and bluster comes at us from their commander.” Loki smiled with delight as he pushed the helicopter lower to make them land outside his shield at the edge of the quarry. “As you said they are mostly warriors under the command of an idiot.”

Clark looked back at the helicopters, which were now on the ground and powering down. The yells of the pilots let them all know it wasn’t by their choice. The General was yelling at them to power the weapons systems back up. The pilots answered back to him the systems were dead due to their being no power in the batteries. Only the mechanical machine guns on the Black Hawks could fire.

“But they won’t.” Loki told Kara and Clark. “I’ve removed the firing mechanisms from all their guns for the time being.”

Clark was actually impressed. Useful mischief was a new concept to him. Kara began to giggle softly and waved cheerfully at the soldiers.

“It’s a beautiful day gentlemen, come on out and enjoy the sunshine.” She called out to them.

The men careful got out and aimed their weapons at them as they formed up. A tall grey haired man in the same uniform but with four stars on his uniform stepped out of the Apache. He looked angry. “You are to put down your weapons on come with us.” He bellowed at them.

Loki crossed his arms over his chest. “No, that is not how this goes.” He gave the group a disappointed look. “You introduce yourself, we introduce ourselves, and then we talk.”

“You are dangerous metahumans and need to be taken in.” The General yelled back.

Kara began laughing at Loki’s disgusted look. Clark stared at her in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

“He thinks we’re humans.” Kara laughed loudly.

“Only you have human DNA Superman.” Loki reminded him. “Kara and I both have divine DNA, not human at all.”

“So you think you are gods?” The general scoffed, still pointed his useless gun at them.

Loki looked at him scornfully. “I am Loptr of Asgard.” He ignored Kara’s sharp intake of air, “God of Magic and Mischief.” He gestured to Kara, “She is Kara of Asgard, Goddess of Hope.” Finally he gestured to Clark, “This is Kal El of Krypton, and lately of Midgard.”

Several of the soldiers had reacted to the name Loptr, as Loki had intended. If he hadn’t been born here it was best to use his doppelganger, or counterpart’s name for this type of affair. They were muttering about Asgard being a myth, but one soldier was staring in awe and putting his weapon away.

“What are you doing, Boris?” One of his comrades hissed at him.

“I worship the Norse Gods you idiot.” Boris hissed back.

“I thought Loptr had red hair?” His friend hissed back.

“He was a shape shifter; he can look however he likes.”

Eiling had had enough he stepped forward again. “You are still all under arrest.”

“For what exactly?” Clark asked in his reporter voice.

“A threat to national security,” The General snapped back.

“You didn’t bring enough men to arrest even one of us, and certainly not all three of us.” Loki laughed; the tone of it was dark and sinister.

Boris took a step back but his friend stepped into his place. “It could be a trick.” His friend hissed once more.

“It’s a trick all right.” Boris answered, “And I am not getting caught up in it. Loptr supposedly fell against Heimdall, yet here he stands.”

The Flash came zooming into the field between the General and Loki. “What is going on here General Eiling? Why are you bothering my friends?”

“They are a threat to national security.” He yelled again for Barry’s benefit.

“And the correct agency has been made aware that they are here. Temporarily,” Barry told him. “As long as they do no harm, they are free to go about their business.”

“That’s not how this works.” Eiling bellowed at Barry. “You should be brought in with them.”

Barry shook his head in bewilderment before turning to Kara. “He has no idea does he?”

“Actually Loki told him, he just doesn’t believe it.” Kara chuckled as Barry groaned.

“They’re aliens from other planets.” Barry told the General. “ARGUS is overseeing their visit and doesn’t want any trouble with two gods from Asgard and two super-powered aliens from Krypton.”

“There are only three of them.” One of the soldiers piped up from behind the general.

Barry looked at the man who had spoken. “Kara is both Kryptonian and a goddess of Asgard. She’s a princess in fact, while Loki is their Prince.” Boris choked harder and stepped even further back. Earth had obviously not kept up with the Asgardian gods if there was a new goddess and she was the princess. His whole religious axis shifted in that moment.

“Hope,” Snorted EIling, “What kind of power is that?”

Kara turned her stare at the man and concentrated on bringing up her power, but instead of projecting hope; she projected a lack of it. The Dementor cold feeling of hopelessness and despair radiated outward toward the men. Barry seeing a wave of something coming from Kara quickly zipped behind her so as to not be hit. The wave of energy hit the men dead on. As one they fell to the ground crying out with misery. Several pressed their weapons to their heads and tried to pull the useless triggers before Kara allowed the wave to stop.

“Hope isn’t just a good feeling; a lack of it can also be a very powerful feeling.” Kara stated calmly as they began to pick themselves up carefully.

“Our guns wouldn’t fire.” One of the men who had tried to commit suicide stated unbelievingly as his misfired weapon.

“Of course not, we wanted to make a point, not start a war.” Loki finally interjected. He was hiding his surprise at Kara’s ability to use her powers in such a way. He’d not thought about that aspect of her gift yet. One usually tried to master the positive abilities of an aspect before looking into creative ways to use it.

Clark was surprised at the level of control the others were projecting. He wasn’t so sure that this was going at all the way Loki had planned. The General was a stubborn man, but this last display by Kara, and Flash being here was making the General nervous. Mention of the agency ARGUS had not only made his blood pressure jump, it had made him wary, at least the minute movements in his body language suggested as much to Clark.

“I suggest you take up your concerns with ARGUS’s Director Michaels.” Barry added, hoping to get the General to back off. “I’ll let her know you were here.” He added, hoping it would be enough to get the stubborn man to move.

It took several seconds before the General holstered his gun and called for his men to return to the helicopters. He was about to ask Barry how they were supposed to leave with the batteries drained, when the engines in the three helicopters began to start up and the blade began to spin.

“All systems except weapons are back online.” One of the Pilots yelled over the radio. “We can lift off.”

“Get us in the air.” The General growled into his comm as he walked away from the group of superheroes.

The group waited until the helicopters were out of sight before looking at each other with amusement. “I’m guessing he’s going to be an issue for you?” Loki asked him softly. He was feeling rather happy. No one had objected to him having some fun on this trip, except Dr. Snow, but even she agreed it was a good prank once she had eaten and got over the initial fright the first time, and the annoyance the second and third. He’d also returned everything back to normal once he’d had his fun, so there had been no hard feelings. This was how his pranks had started out long ago. They had only become mean-spirited when he had turned to his aspect to gain a measure of revenge for the slights and insults done against him.

Barry shrugged with a lack of concern. “He comes and goes.” He admitted with a sheepish smile and a shrug. “ARGUS’s director Michaels knows I’m Barry Allen, so she knows she doesn’t need to worry about me being a bad guy. She protects me because I protect Central City. She has jurisdiction over metahumans… and aliens I guess. It’s not like there is a DEO on this Earth.”

Clark grunted at the reminder. He had a few run-ins with Hank Henshaw the director of the DEO on his Earth, mostly over Kryptonite. Henshaw kept it and Clark hated it so he refused to work with the US government, or any government that had the stuff. People like Henshaw and General Lane considered the fact that Superman didn’t work for them as a good enough reason to be ready to fight him.

“And she of course knows of us at present.” Loki added as he removed his sparring armor in return for a normal suit. Kara followed his lead, changing in a nice pair of dress pants and a long silk shirt. Clark just rolled his eyes and stayed in his Superman outfit.

When they returned to STAR Labs it time to say goodbye. Barry had planned to meet them there after their extended training time. He’d been called in to work early for a break-in at a local tech firm and hadn’t been able to stay for the whole morning.

Loki gifted Barry with a pair of enchanted bracers. “These will reinforce your bones.” He told him seriously.

Barry took the bracers and was shocked to find them made of metal, but very light. The coloring matched his suit and the inside was formed to his forearms. Once on, the gauntlets seemed to form even better to his arms and suit so they didn’t even seem to be there. It looked like a seam in the suit if you looked close enough. Barry would later learn that the bracers enchantment actually protected more than just his forearms.

“Thank you.” Barry gasped in awe of the craftsmanship.

Loki’s posture straightened with pride and he looked more confident at Barry’s reaction. Usually gifts of magic were treated with distain, at least when they came from him. Mjölnir had originally been a gift from him, but Thor hadn’t been too keen on it until Odin had re-gifted it to him fifty years later with a few added enchantments. The ability to be thrown and return had always been part of the hammer due to its Uru star metal make-up, as had the ability to fly if given enough momentum. Odin had added the ability to channel his aspect of thunder through it, and the worthiness (according to Odin) test. Loki had thought of several other things that could be used to enhance Barry’s suits, but he wanted to know the man a little better first, and see what his fighting style could accommodate in the next year. Armor was a personal thing on Asgard. He wanted to make the armor for Barry as non-generic as possible.

Cisco, not to be outdone, presented Kara and Clark with two small disks. “These are your extrapolators.” He explained. “Right now you need to re-route through ‘JARVIS mini’ here on Earth 1, but I am going to get it to work with both worlds. I just need to pop in every so often to work on it.” He explained, speaking quickly and with a great deal of excitement.

Kara and Clark had both given Cisco permission to use their Fortresses as his transfer point. Kara had taken a hair sample to add him to the security systems so Brainiac wouldn’t fire him if she was off-world when he arrived. Clark would have to do the same for both Barry and Cisco or Kelex would defend his fortress too.

It was a tearful goodbye between the cousins when it came time for Clark to jump back to Earth 38. Clark had gotten several photos of “Kara Zor El and Kal El” for his ‘story’, and a few using Loki to make it seem like Clark Kent was standing with Superman and Supergirl too. The official story would be Kara was living on a planet with another peaceful race and would be visiting on occasion. No one thought breaking the Multiverse story to the public was a good idea yet.

Cisco took Clark back first, bringing him back to the barn they had left from. He held out his hand to Clark and smiled broadly. “It was great to meet you, and I hope to see you real soon.”

Clark smiled back at the excitable man. “I would suggest you work with Barry on those fighting exercises Loki taught us. You’ll be joining us in the future and I look forward to having you as back-up, rather than support.”

Cisco’s eyes lit up with the praise. “Yeah, of course,” He gushed. “Joining the ‘saving the day team’ is my goal too. I am needed in the control room too much right now.” He trailed off. “Barry needs us to help him develop his powers and ideas for fighting. I can’t do that, and be beside him trying to learn my own too.” He admitted awkwardly.

Clark laid his hand carefully on Cisco’s shoulders. “And there will be times he’ll need you at his side. Just prepare and do what is the right thing for you, not what others want you to do. Sometimes it’s hard to know what that is, other times it’s all too easy, but the most difficult thing in the world to do. Being a hero isn’t easy.”

“Yeah,” Cisco sighed deeply. He’d seen how much it had cost Barry already. Still it was something he wanted; to help his friends, and help others. He’d never admit it out loud, but he felt like he needed to atone for being part of the Particle Accelerator, and helping Thawne when he’d pretended to be Wells.

Clark picked up on his mood change. “Use it to motivate yourself, but don’t let it cripple you.” He added supportively. Cisco looked surprised but Clark gave him one of his bashful smiles. “I’ve been there, blaming yourself for something you feel you could have done different and saved people.” Cisco nodded a little stunned at his admission. “It helps to remember you can’t see the future, so you focus on what you knew, and know you did everything you could at the time.”

Cisco nodded slowly. “Thank you.” He whispered. The night of the explosion played in his mind. He knew that when he had closed the door on Rodney, locking him in the pipeline, he’d done the right thing. It had felt like the worst betrayal to a friend, but it had been the only thing he could have done. If he hadn’t, the explosion would have been much worse, and could have wiped out a large part of downtown Central City.

Clark just nodded and stepped back. “Your friend Oliver isn’t the path to follow. Barry is a good man, and with him as your partner, I can’t see things going wrong for the wrong reasons.”

Cisco gave Clark a warmer smile and stepped back too. “I guess this is goodbye for a bit.”

Clark nodded. “Let me know when you stop by, even if it’s only for an hour. I’d like you guys to meet Lois and Jimmy.”

Cisco gave him two thumbs up. “You have all the information Kara gave you about her Asgard to fight the computer with?”

Clark got a steely look in his eyes. “Oh better. I plan to tell them to shove the whole history crap, I know better than they do what happened and why.”

Cisco’s eyebrows raised above the edge of his glasses. “Wish I could stay to see that.”

Clark laughed. “Go, Loki and Kara are waiting for you to take them home.”

Cisco gave him one last salute before reopening the portal and jumping back to Earth 1.

Clark went to his hidden stash and got his cell phone out and called Lois. He’d been back for an hour on the second day to update her and let her know he’d be a week.

“Clark, you’re back!” She cried triumphantly and with a huge tremble of relief in her voice. In the background he could hear the sounds of the newsroom.

“Yes, and I have the story.” He told her. “I’ll be at the newsroom shortly. Tell Perry I have the story of a lifetime.”

Lois couldn’t help but laugh. That sounded much like something she’d have said. “Pictures included?”

“You bet.” He laughed. “Not as good as Jimmy’s but still good enough to print. I even got one with me in it with both Superman and Supergirl.”

Lois knew better than to ask how that was possible so she just laughed with relief that everything had gone so well. “Is she everything you hoped she’d be?”

“Yes.” Clark sighed with fondness. “She is much like me, except she is a bit rough around the edges, due to being raised on Asgard with a bunch of warriors.”

“A hard-ass superhero; sounds like my kinda girl.” Lois joked. She was very happy for Clark, and despite being apprehensive about meeting more Kryptonians, she found herself wondering about Kara, and looking forward to meeting her.

“I hope so. We have a standing invitation to meet her again in about three months.” Clark told her as he took the things he needed from the bag he’d pack. His suit for work was hidden in a closet with a false back that he could access from the roof and make it look like he had come up the elevator.

“I’ll look forward to it.” She replied.

“See you in a few minutes.” He told her before hanging up and flying to the Daily Planet’s roof. With the thumb drive copy of the article and the pictures of him and his cousin; Perry White was going to be very happy to see him.

The drop off at Earth 617 was a little more direct. Due to never knowing who would be at the Stark Mansion, Kara had Cisco drop them off at the Fortress. Upon arriving she had introduced Cisco to Brainiac and given her permission, and the DNA sample to the computer so Cisco could have limited access. She also reinstated Loki’s while they were there together.

Barry had walked up to Kara and given her a huge hug and she returned it as tightly as she dared. “Last time you needed someone to talk to, and I needed you so I could go home in one piece.” He admitted quietly.

Kara smiled at him as she pulled back. “You did everything for me. I haven’t done anything for you really.” She added guiltily. She didn’t consider helping him go home last time that big a deal. Tony had actually done the work, not her.

Barry smiled sadly. “I was going to throw everything I had away, and try and save my mother. But I had this mission to help you find Clark…” He trailed off and Kara stayed still offering her support for him to finish what he had to say. “I just kept thinking that you were all alone; and yet stronger than me because you would never do something so monumentally stupid.”

Kara snorted softly. “Barry, there are so many things I would try to change if I had your powers.” She admitted quietly. “Do you honestly think I wouldn’t go back and try and save Krypton?”

Barry shook his head. “Of course you would. That was a whole solar system that died! I wanted to just save one person.”

“One person can still make the biggest changes.” She told him with a far off look that shadowed her face in sorrow. “Would you have become Flash if she had lived?” She asked him in a whisper.

Barry looked confused. “Of course, that was why Thawne came back in time… to stop me from becoming The Flash.”

Kara gave him a sad shake of her head. “Barry, that’s the problem with time paradoxes. You might not even love Iris if you hadn’t grown up with her and gotten to know her as you do now. All those times you spent together wouldn’t have happened.”

Barry sucked in a deep breath. He knew this. He’d thought about all this. But he had never considered that he’d not be The Flash if he’d saved his mother, or that he’d never have fallen for Iris. “Thawne would have succeeded if I had stopped him from killing her.”

“That is one likely outcome.” Loki interrupted. “Another would have destroyed the world as the paradoxes imploded.”

Barry bit his lip ashamed by what he’d been planning. “I’d already decided not to go through with it.”

Kara smiled at him. “That makes you a better hero than I’ll ever be Barry.” She told him fondly as she pulled him into another hug.

Barry blushed deeply and buried his face in her hair as he hugged her tightly once more. “You are one of the best friends I will ever have.” He told her. “If you ever need another brother, I’ll always have room in my family for you.”

Kara closed her eyes and a few tears squeezed out anyway. “Thank you for that Barry. I’ll consider you family forever.” She made an effort to not think about her lifespan compared to his as she stepped back and let him go.

As she turned to Cisco to give him a farewell hug, Loki stepped up to Barry and offered his forearm. “Go in peace shield brother.” Loki offered the young hero.

Barry smiled gratefully and took his arm. “I promise to keep practicing the moves you taught me, and I’ll be ready to learn more when we meet again.”

Loki gave him a rare warm smile. “Then I shall accept you as an apprentice-in-arms.” Barry nodded and squeezed Loki’s arm in agreement before he let go and they stepped back.

“Well I guess this is it for a while.” Cisco said as a segway into the final goodbyes.

“Yes. I don’t know how often we will be on planet. There seems to be a few issues that require at least my presence in other Realms for some time.” Loki replied.

“But you can always leave messages with Brainiac or yell up to Heimdall if it is important. He can get a message to me fairly quickly if it’s truly important.” Kara reminded them.

“Well short of an invasion of aliens I can’t see us doing much for the next several months, except setting up the systems and maybe that Fortress on our Earth.” Cisco chuckled. The other three stared at him. Their stares made him stop laughing. “What?”

Loki sighed and walked away. Kara just shook her head and stepped back. “You best go.” She sighed softly.

Barry groaned at Cisco and nodded to Kara. “See you soon. Good Luck with your mission for Asgard.”

Cisco still hadn’t clued in to the problem as he turned with Barry to open the portal. “What did I say?” He asked as he pushed his powers forward and the portal opened.

“You tempted their Fates, Cisco.” Barry muttered before he jumped into the vortex.

Cisco just shook his head. “It was just a joke.” He replied to the open air before he jumped in after Barry.

The wormhole closed behind them as three beings cackled at the base of the World Tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now you have met the Arrowverse People and they are now able to go back and forth to Earth 1. :)


End file.
